We can learn a lot about human sexuality by studying humans; however, it is important to keep in mind that humans are just one animal species among the millions of species with whom we share our planet. To fully understand human sexuality, we must therefore examine it against the broad context of animal reproduction in general. In other words, the stories told to youngsters about the birds and the bees are far more germane and relevant than the people telling them might care to admit. Let’s take a look at some of the many ways that life on this fantastic planet keeps itself going from generation to generation.
If animals could talk, most any animal you asked would tell you that human sexuality is more than a little aberrant by their standards. As I just said above, fully appreciating just how different human sexuality is requires setting aside our human-centric thinking to look at humans as just another animal among all animals. Only 3% of mammals are monogamous and this percentage plummets when one considers the many millions of animal species in the world. This one trait alone places humans far beyond the +/-2 standard deviations from the mean that is generally considered to be the “normal” range for statistical purposes.
