http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=379591
All is not as it seems in the murky world of animal sexuality, say scientists who doubt the theory postulated by Charles Darwin to explain extravagant male ornamentssuch as the peacock's tail.
A study of Japanese macaques in the wild has found that rather than there being strict competition between males for access to females, a vital aspect of Darwin's theory of sexual selection, females vie with males for a female lover.
Liaisons between members of the same sex are becoming a frequent observation in the animal kingdom, but female macaques take the practice to extremes by usurping males to capture other females.
Paul Vasey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, believes the frequency with which female macaques engage in sexual contact with each other undermines the Darwinist view that sex is about competition between males for females. The intense rivalry, combined with female choice, is said to result in the evolution of ornaments such as giant antlers or long tails.
Dr Vasey said he originally thought sex between female macaques must play a evolutionary role, perhaps by cementing bonds between individuals who helped each other to raise their young. That view had not been supported by his research. --- Sent from UnionMail Service [http://mail.union.org.za]