When you were a small child, someone taught you about the birds and the bees.
It might've been a parent or other adult who explained where babies come from, or another kid who filled your head with scary, exciting things that you believed until you learned better. However, you learned the facts of life, it changed you forever and in the new book, "A Little Queer Natural History" by Josh L. Davis, there's more to the wild story.
You are not alone. Just look around.
All kinds of creatures share the planet with us but, in the same way that you shouldn't judge a person at first glance, you can't jump to conclusions about those creatures. That's especially true with sexual behavior. While we can't rightly attribute human feelings or intentions to them – animals likely don't understand gay from straight – we may assume "that most species of animal probably exhibit some form of queer behaviour..."
Take birds, for instance: early-twentieth-century explorers noted the Adélie penguin for its male-male partnering activity. Female Western gulls often raise their chicks with female partners. Female pheasants may "present as males" if their estrogen is depleted.
As for mammals, Western lowland gorillas and bonobos both engage in sexual activity with either sex. Domestic sheep, hyenas, and giraffes also "could be considered to have a sexuality that we would define as homosexual or bisexual."
And "When it comes to sex in plants," says Davis, "all bets are off."
Komodo dragons can reproduce through parthenogenesis, or without fertilization. Parrot fish are able to change sex if they need to. Morpho butterflies are gynandromorphs, having "both male and female tissue within ... a single individual." Castrated male cane toads will develop egg cells due to a "Bidder's organ." Even dinosaurs are included in this book.
"Despite sex often being viewed as a fundamental for life on Earth," says Davis, "there is still a lot we don't know about it and scientists are constantly learning more."
When you first get "A Little Queer Natural History" in your hands, you'll notice how whisper-thin it feels. Don't let that fool you; the pages may be light, but what you'll find is not.
No, author Josh L. Davis stuffs each entry tight with real scientific information, and he uses actual scientific terms to do it. There's zero dumbing-down in that, but Davis is quick to explain terms and ideas, which helps readers to completely understand what's here. For sure, you'll feel like a smarty-pants as you make your way through this book.
Readers, however, may scratch their heads and wonder why some of the entries are included – it may be a stretch to include fossilized creatures or male animals that care for their offspring, for instance. Chances are, though, that you'll be so captured by the knowledge contained in each short chapter that you won't mind.
"A Little Queer Natural History" is a smart book, perfect for quick reads at random at this busy time of year. If that's what you need now, enjoying it's a fact of life.
"A Little Queer Natural History" by Josh L. Davis
c.2024, University of Chicago Press $16 128 pages
