Animals that masturbate

There are examples of animals masturbating before sex, after sex, and sometimes even instead of sex.

Dr Matilda Brindle UCL Anthropology shares her new study in The Conversation on the evolutionary origins and advantages of auto sexual behaviour across the animal kingdom. Self-pleasure is common across the animal kingdom: from dogs humping unwitting teddy bears to dolphins thrusting their penises into decapitated fish yes, really , animal masturbation is a raucous affair. We focused our research on primates the group of animals humans belong to because, if there were a prize for the most inventive onanists in the animal kingdom, they would win. Young chimpanzees fashion DIY sex toys from bits of chewed-up fruit. Female Sulawesi crested macaques slap their rumps while repeatedly inserting their fingers into their vaginas. In one study, captive male chacma baboons masturbated while ogling females sporting large prosthetic bottoms, attached by researchers to replicate the natural swellings females develop when at their most fertile.

Animals that masturbate

Porcupines prefer sex toys, and moose get off by rubbing their antlers on trees. While scientists debate the evolutionary reason for masturbation, there's no doubt that humans are not alone in their self-pleasure from time to time. Here are some other creatures that partake in solo sex. While our shared interest with the animal kingdom highlights some similarities between Homo sapiens and the rest of Earth's fauna, scientists say there are some differences in how we go about it. For one, many animals that masturbate don't continue the deed until orgasm humans seem to be rather goal-oriented on this point. That means that some of the best theories for why masturbation evolved in humans are off the table for other animals. For example, studies have found that masturbation can increase a man's sperm count by getting rid of old semen that's lost its vitality, and therefore boosting the chances that young, lively sperm will be ejaculated during intercourse. But since this discharge doesn't seem to occur as often in animals, then there must be some other benefits to the practice, scientists say. Dogs like to thrust and rub against objects, people and animals, and also enjoy licking themselves. Cats, too, enjoy self-fellation.

The unpublished description was only rediscovered a few years ago.

We get the urge because our ancestors did too, even back to the earliest mammals and reptiles. The diversity of animals that have been caught taking a bit of alone time goes far, far beyond dogs humping legs. It should be no surprise to anyone that our primate cousins are champion masturbators. They have hands, after all. The art of self-pleasure has been observed in males from about 80 species from ape to monkey to lemur, making it one of the most common and widespread primate sexual behaviors.

Despite centuries of taboo and titillation , masturbation in primates appears to serve an evolutionary purpose. A study published June 6 in the journal Proceedings of The Royal Society B , found that self-stimulating increases reproductive success and helps primates avoid sexually transmitted infections STI , at least in males. Self-pleasure is common across the animal kingdom , but is particularly frequent in primates including humans. The behavior was considered by some scientists to be either pathological or simply a by-product of sexual arousal. In this new study , a team of researchers built a dataset on primate masturbation from close to sources, including published academic papers, and questionnaires and personal communications from zookeepers and primatologists. To understand why and when the practice evolved in both females and males, the authors tracked the distribution of autosexual behavior across primates. They found that masturbation has a long evolutionary history amongst primates, and was likely present in the common ancestry of all monkeys and apes, humans included. What was less clear is whether the common ancestor of other primates—lemurs, lorises and tarsiers—masturbated, largely because there was less data on these groups. The team tested multiple hypotheses to better understand why this seemingly non-functional trait would evolve. According to the postcopulatory selection hypothesis , masturbation aids successful fertilization that can be achieved in various ways.

Animals that masturbate

Masturbation is one of the most common sexual behaviors in humans. It is also a phylogenetically widespread trait of various other mammalian and some non-mammalian species. Several hypotheses have been proposed aiming to explain the function of masturbation in primates and other species. These were mainly based on observations of nonhuman primates such as rhesus macaques or bonobos and rodents such as African ground squirrels. Based on these observations various scholars suggested that masturbation improves ejaculate quality, decreases the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections or is merely a by-product of sexual arousal and thus an alternate outlet to copulation. While these theories may explain some facets of masturbation in some species, they do not explain why masturbation is so widespread and has developed in various species as well as our hominid ancestors.

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The ejaculation could also serve as "postcopulatory urination, as a more thorough mechanism to clean vital reproductive tracts after mating than just external genital grooming. A review of the literature found 44 species pairs that had been observed attempting interspecies mating, and 46 species pairs that had completed interspecies matings, not counting cases that had resulted in hybridization. An analysis of the results suggests male squirrel "masturbation could function as a form of genital grooming," because saliva has anti-bacterial properties, and the act may also reduce their risk of catching a sexually transmitted disease. Already a subscriber? Journal of Comparative Psychology. This particular squirrel chose the branch of a tree. Pusey These rounds of rubbing may have a purpose — one study of the behavior suggested that pulling off the top layer of hemipenis skin may help remove any bacteria and parasites the male picked up during copulation, or keep the intricate skin frills on the surface of the hemipenes well groomed. Yahoo Life Shopping. The practice hasn't been well-documented in widow spiders, so their bedroom habits don't make the darwini's proclivity for oral activities any less mysterious. Marine Kareem Nikoui, was among 13 service members and civilians killed in an attack by a suicide bomber at Abbey Gate outside Kabul's airport during America's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in

There are examples of animals masturbating before sex, after sex, and sometimes even instead of sex. Masturbation behavior is observed in a variety of animal species. Some of the animals known to engage in masturbation include:.

This behavior, both from the descriptive field studies cited above and in extensive study of domestic horses, is now understood as normal, frequent behavior of male equids. The franchise tag deadline has come and gone, and Jori sees some clear winners and losers. To get around this, small males masturbate and store their ejaculate in a special pouch at the tip of their penis. J Reprod Fertil Suppl. In one study, captive male chacma baboons masturbated while ogling females sporting large prosthetic bottoms, attached by researchers to replicate the natural swellings females develop when at their most fertile. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Sometimes we saw these birds, after walking some distance, apparently in the vain search for hens, stand motionless and rigid upon the ground, then stiffening themselves, assume the attitude and go through the motions characteristic of the sexual act, in some cases actually ejecting their semen on to the ground. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. The presence of same-sex sexual behaviour was not scientifically reported on a large scale until recent times. The researchers observed squirrel masturbation sessions in total. Saban retired Jan. More From Discover. If you didn't know that turtles masturbate, then you clearly haven't seen this actually adorable video of a little turtle making sweet love to a Croc sandal. Sexual selection in scaled reptiles lizards snakes side-blotched lizard Crocodilians Tuatara.