Short Wave Celebrate Valentine's Day With These Queer Animals
8 snips
Feb 14, 2024 
Christine Wilkinson, a wildlife ecologist and creator of the "Queer is Natural" TikTok series, shares fascinating insights about queerness in the animal kingdom. She reveals the love story of a gay anteater couple at the National Zoo and explores the prevalence of same-sex relationships across hundreds of species. The discussion includes unique reproductive strategies and challenges common myths about animal sexuality. With heartwarming examples, Christine encourages appreciation for queer relationships in nature beyond human norms, especially as Valentine's Day approaches.
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Gay Animals at Zoos
- Two male penguins at Central Park Zoo raised a chick, inspiring the book "And Tango Makes Three".
- The National Zoo has a gay anteater couple, Manny and Cayenne, who exhibit mating behaviors despite Cayenne being male.
Queerness is Widespread
- Christine Wilkinson reveals that same-sex behavior isn't limited to penguins and anteaters.
- Thousands of species exhibit same-sex behavior or sex changes, challenging the perceived norms of animal sexuality.
Examples of Queerness in Nature
- Banana slugs and earthworms are hermaphrodites that can inseminate each other or self-fertilize.
- All-female New Mexico whiptail lizards reproduce via parthenogenesis, with "mounting" lizards producing larger eggs.
