Animal Sex: News and Features

From an evolutionary and biological perspective, animals are driven to have sex in order to procreate. But there is a lot more to sexual relations between animals. Animal sex is at least as strange and varied as human sex. A male might copulate with many females. And female animals of many species can be choosy, too. Homosexuality is common. Monogamy is rare. And the animal kingdom is full of swingers. In short, with animals, sex can be wild.

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Animal Sex: How Dragonflies Do It

February 08, 2014 | Article

Dragonfly mating involves violent battles, flashy courtship dances and heart-shaped coitus.
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Animal Sex: 7 Tales of Naughty Acts in the Wild

January 02, 2014 | Countdown

From small and subtle to large and in charge, sex in the animal kingdom is just as varied as the beasts themselves.
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Animal Sex: How Bats Do It

December 30, 2013 | Article

Bat sex involves unique behaviors not seen in other mammals, including swarming, honking and oral sex.
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Animal Sex: How Peafowls Do It

December 03, 2013 | Article

Peafowl sex is a sight to behold, involving brilliant train displays, rattles and hoot dashes. Once the peacock and peahen have mated, they go their separate ways.
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Animal Sex: How Worms Do It

November 23, 2013 | Article

Though their serpentine locomotion might be off-putting to some, when roundworms do the deed, they're surprisingly graceful. A simple animal with only about 300 neurons, C. elegans is a common model organism in biology laboratories. But its reproductive s
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Animal Sex: How Worms Do It | Video

November 22, 2013 | Video

The mating behavior of the roundworm C. Elegans is surprisingly sophisticated, requiring complex nerve control.
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Photos: Bizarre Sex Lives of Hermaphrodite Sea Slugs

November 12, 2013 | Image Album

A simultaneous hermaphrodite, the slug has both male and female reproductive organs that it uses simultaneously during sex. The male organ is a two-pronged penis equipped with spines.
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Ouch! Hermaphrodite Sea Slug Stabs Mate in Head During Sex

November 12, 2013 | Article

Lots of animals take part in what humans might consider bizarre mating tactics, but one sea slug might take the cake: it stabs its partner in the head.
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Animal Sex: How Penguins Do It

November 01, 2013 | Article

Though they may look different, penguin mating behaviors are surprisingly similar to other birds. Even so, each of the 18 penguin species has its own little mating quirks, with some doing a look-see of the male's bachelor pad before shacking up.
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Sea Lampreys' Sexy Secret? Bile Salt

October 15, 2013 | Article

Sea lampreys use a digestive enzyme called a bile salt as a sexual pheromone, excreting it through their gills after not eating for weeks.
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