
Do animals masturbate?  - peter123
http://www.slate.com/id/2223013/pagenum/all/
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frossie
For those who don't want to follow the article: It doesn't ask the question
(because the answer is obviously yes, as some dog owners can testify). It asks
the more interesting question of why the behaviour evolved and why is it so
widespread even in species that don't obviously experience sexual climax.

I am hoping the mental image of the walrus will pass though...

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bpb
Surely the answer as to why it evolved is obvious - it takes more energy
during development (and a lot of selective pressure during evolution) to make
a reproductive system that produces pleasure _only_ during reproductive sex
acts than one that can produce pleasure in non-reproductive situations. Hence,
masturbation exists.

I _love_ the statistic that male Macaques spend 1-6% of their metabolism on
production of ejaculate though.

~~~
anamax
> Surely the answer as to why it evolved is obvious

One of the recent results in human fertility is that daily ejaculation results
in healthier sperm and greater fertility.

Causality is rarely simple.

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lyso
> daily ejaculation results in healthier sperm and greater fertility.
> Causality is rarely simple.

Sure, but I think here you are being overly adaptionist. Put another way, if
we lived in a world where daily ejaculation did not improve sperm quality,
would we still expect animals to masturbate? I would say yes.

It's just occurred to be that was in fact answered by the comedian, Jasper
Carrott:

Q: Why do dogs lick their bollocks? A: Because they can.

~~~
anamax
> Put another way, if we lived in a world where daily ejaculation did not
> improve sperm quality, would we still expect animals to masturbate? I would
> say yes.

We probably do live in such a world. The "sperm quality" issue probably
doesn't come up with animals that spawn at a given time of year.

Note that "sperm quality improves with masturbation" is a partial explanation
for why masturbation is pleasurable for those species who do.

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DanielBMarkham
The article says turtles masturbate.

But I'm not even sure how you'd really know something like that.

It's not like I've ever seen an excited turtle, much less a really, really
happy one.

I mean, not to get too explicit, but if I saw a turtle shifting slowly back
and forth on a rock, I'd think _confused turtle_. Not necessarily the other
thing.

~~~
icey
Turtles and tortoises make a noise that will tell you quite definitively
what's going on.

It's tough to describe this tactfully, but some tortoises at the zoo here were
feeling particularly amorous one day and you could hear them from a quarter
mile away. Watching the parents try to explain to their kids what was going on
was good for a laugh though.

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quoderat
The more important question is, does Animal from The Muppet Show masturbate?

