Evolutionary 1st: “Missionary Style” Mating Observed in Wild Apes

Scientists (aka Peeping Toms) from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology recently released photos of a world first—two apes mating face-to-face, or participating in “ventro-ventral copulation”, which is the technical term for it. Most animals and almost all primates copulate in what’s known as the dorso-ventral position where both animals are facing in the same direction. However, the photographs recently released to the public show gorillas performing face-to-face copulation in the wild, which has never before been observed and photographed in western gorillas. The researchers believe it happened at a “innovative” female’s instigation.

"Leah was lying on the ground and George was looking into Leah's eyes," researchers reported.
The female ape photographed, nicknamed “Leah” by researchers, has already proven herself to be a little on the adventurous side. Leah has made headlines before when in 2005 she was observed using tools, which was also a never-before-seen behavior for her kind in the wild. Leah was observed using a stick to test the depth of a pool of water before getting in.

“Understanding the behavior of our cousins the great apes sheds light on the evolution of behavioral traits in our own species and our ancestors,” said Thomas Breuer, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and WCS and lead author of the study. “It is also interesting that this same adult female has been noted for innovative behaviors before.”

The western lowland gorilla is listed as Critically Endangered as a result of hunting by humans, habitat destruction, and other threats such as the Ebola virus. Researchers have been monitoring the gorilla population in the area since 1995 in the Mbeli Bai area. The photographs were part of a study conducted in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo, and were later featured in Gorilla Gazette, a newsletter for gorilla scientists.

“Our current knowledge of wild western gorillas is very limited, and this report provides information on various aspects of their sexual behavior,” added Breuer. “We can’t say how common this manner of mating is, but it has never been observed with western gorillas in the forest. It is fascinating to see similarities between gorilla and human sexual behavior demonstrated by our observation.”

Posted by Rebecca Sato.

Related Galaxy posts:
Gigantic Species of Leopard-Eating Chimps Rule the Congo Jungle
Young Chimp Beats College Students in Cognitive Test

Links:
http://news.nationalg/

eographic.com/news/2008/02/photogalleries/gorilla-pictures/photo2.html
http://www.eva.mpg.de/
http://www.wcs.org

Comments

[Ira]

Umm, I am positive I saw it mentioned some 4-5 years ago in a TV documentary that Bonobo chimps not only mate "misionary" but also have sex as a fun, social activity and not just for copulation. this means, in my book, that this has been known to scientists for at least 10 or more years.

So maybe this is only new for Gorillas?

[Ira]

scratch copulation, I meant - not just for procreation :-)

[Gorilla Girl]

Ira, yes Bonobo chimps have been known to mate face-to-face. Humans and Bonobos are the only primates known to regularly do this. Most primates do not. But this particular instance is the first time a Western Gorilla has ever been observed and photographed doing the same. The jury is still out whether this is rare behavior, or just rarely observed behavior. After all, scientists don't catch everything-especially when studying these elusive creatures.