Gorillas have been caught on camera for the first time performing face-to-face intercourse. Humans and bonobos were the only primates thought to mate in this manner. And while researchers have observed wild gorillas engaged in such an act, it had never been photographed.
Most primates mate facing the same direction. "Bonobos [mate face-to-face] routinely—zoo gorillas and zoo chimps too," said Craig Stanford, an expert in great ape behaviors with the Jane Goodall Research Center at the University of Southern California (USC).
“Researchers say that few primates mate in a face-to-face position, known technically as ventro-ventral copulation; most primate species copulate in what's known as the dorso-ventral position, with both animals facing in the same direction,” explained a statement from WCS.
The two species are evolutionarily too distant and their DNA is too dissimilar for a gorilla and a chimpanzee to produce offspring.
Male gorillas: Homosexual behaviour is observed very rarely in harem groups (occasionally during play between youngsters), but it is common in all-male groups.
Although it's hard to say anything with absolute certainty, human DNA is so different to even our closest relatives that interbreeding is probably impossible. Despite this, Gallup believes that it is possible to crossbreed humans with great apes, including gorillas and orangutans.
Roughly half of females reproduce in the group where they were born, resulting in the potential for them to reproduce with their fathers. However, the genetic analyses in this study found no evidence of father-daughter reproduction, although half siblings were observed to occasionally reproduce.
Bonobos and other primates will have sex while pregnant or lactating – seemingly just for the joy of it – while short-nosed fruit bats engage in oral sex to prolong their bouts of intercourse (there might be evolutionary reasons for this, but it could also be for fun).
Seems unlikely without some genetic engineering help. Orangutans and Gorillas evolved separately for millions of years and are much further apart genetically from humans and chimpanzees, so it is improbable that natural mating would produce viable offspring.
Bonobos are the most promiscuous non-human species—up to 75% of bonobo sexual behavior is purely for pleasure. They're also perhaps the most promiscuous non-human species on the planet. While chimpanzee sex is tied closely to reproduction, up to 75% of bonobo sexual behavior is purely for pleasure.
Different forms of self and partner genital stimulation have been observed in the animal kingdom. Oral sex has been observed throughout the animal kingdom, from dolphins to primates. Bonobos have been observed to transition from a simple demonstration of affection to non-penetrative genital stimulation.
Hybridization between chimpanzees and bonobos has been documented, and they share 99.6% of their genomes. However, genetic similarity, and thus the chances of successful hybridization, is not always correlated with visual appearances.
Really wild orgasms Not only do animals enjoy the deed, they also likely have orgasms, he said. They are difficult to measure directly but by watching facial expressions, body movements and muscle relaxation, many scientists have concluded that animals reach a pleasurable climax, he said.
Many animals actually do engage in kissing-like behaviours to show affection. These behaviours are so diverse, from dogs sniffing and licking potential mates, to elephants putting their trunks in each other's mouths. However, one animal kisses just like we do: the bonobo ape.
“Small-bodied and vulnerable adolescent female Japanese macaques may prefer to engage in relatively safer sexual interactions with female monkey sexual partners in lieu of riskier sexual interactions with more aggressive male mates,” Gunst-Leca says, explaining that sometimes humping other animals is safer than hooking ...
Not only do animals enjoy the deed, they also likely have orgasms, Bekoff said. They are difficult to measure directly but by watching facial expressions, body movements and muscle relaxation, many scientists have concluded that animals reach a pleasurable climax, he said.
Primate mother-son copulation occurs considerably more frequently than we once believed. Sade (1968) had observed but one instance of mother-son mating during his observation of free-ranging rhesus monkeys. He cited five other primatologists who had also found mother-son incest exceedingly rare.
Mating in Gorillas
The dominant silverback mates with all females in the group as soon as they begin ovulation. The moment when a female gorilla is ready to mate is not evident physically like it is in chimpanzees. In most cases, it is the female who initiates the mating process as soon as she ready.
Additionally, in primates, there are extended infant and juvenile developmental periods; familiarity during upbringing is a proxy for genetic relatedness. Thus, females and offspring or siblings are not likely to breed.
No. Not even counting any of the other problems associated with in vivo reproduction between species, humans and monkeys don't even have the same number of chromosomes. That means that the pairing of chromosomes in the fertilized egg (which starts the zygote forming by cell division) cannot take place.
Humans and chimps have DNA that is 95 percent similar, and 99 percent of our DNA coding sequences are the same as well. However, humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes in our DNA, while chimps only have 22. The difference makes bearing healthy young difficult, and the offspring would be infertile.
Can a Dog Impregnate a Cat? Throughout the years, there have been several speculations and theories about dogs impregnating a cat or vice versa. However, due to their huge biological differences, dogs can never impregnate a cat. With this, a dog's sperm can never fertilize a cat's egg.
Ethical considerations preclude definitive research on the subject, but it's safe to say that human DNA has become so different from that of other animals that interbreeding would likely be impossible.
Yes, wolves and domestic dogs can breed and produce fertile offspring.