COS 72-5 - Same-Sex Sexual Behaviour Among Mammals is Widely Observed, Yet Seldomly Reported: Evidence from an Online Expert Survey

Background/Question/Methods

Same-sex sexual behaviour (SSSB) has been recorded in over 1,500 animal species and occurs in most major clades, with most published reports of SSSB among mammals concentrated in a few taxa (e.g., Primates, Artiodactyla, and Carnivora), and there remains a paucity of published reports for most mammalian species. We conducted a cross-sectional expert survey of mammologists, wildlife biologists, and other ecologists to better understand the underlying reasons for the lack of publications on this topic. Surveys are frequently used in many branches of the social sciences to collect data, and expert survey has been used in conservation biology to assess and rank conservation concerns. For our study, the use of an expert survey was the only way to assess both unpublished observations of SSSB and the reasons why these remain unpublished.

Results/Conclusions

We received 65 responses to our survey, with some respondents reporting on multiple species. This resulted in 73 accounts of SSSB across 52 species. Most accounts occurred within the order Primates (83.6%), while the rest were within Carnivora (6.9%), Rodentia (4.1%), Artiodactyla (2.7%), and Proboscidea (2.7%). Most respondents (76.7%) indicated that they observed SSSB in their study species, but only 48.2% indicated that they collected data on SSSB. Of those who collected data on SSSB, few (18.52%) indicated that they had published papers on SSSB in their study species. Respondents were asked why they had not collected data on or published on SSSB, with the most common response being that SSSB was rare or anecdotal (46.2%). The results provide compelling evidence that SSSB occurs more frequently than what is available in the published record, suggesting that this may be due to a publishing bias against anecdotal evidence. Statistical and analytical approaches have been favoured over short narrative reports in ecology. However, anecdotal reports are useful in comparing less frequently recorded behaviours across species. The results of this study highlight the fundamental role expert surveys play in the analysis of under-published behaviours in many subfields of behavioural ecology.