Why does this exuberance exist? While some behaviors may have specific evolutionary benefits—such as "kin selection" (helping relatives' offspring survive)—many scientists believe these behaviors serve broader social functions.
Before Bagemihl, the dominant narrative in popular science was clear: Animals mate to reproduce. Any deviation from heterosexual, procreative coupling was dismissed as a mistake, a dominance display, or an effect of captivity. Bagemihl turned this paradigm on its head. Why does this exuberance exist
Within this framework, animal homosexuality (including same-sex courtship, pair-bonding, and parenting) is not an anomaly. It is a logical byproduct of an exuberant natural world. Bagemihl writes that animals engage in same-sex behavior for a multitude of reasons—pleasure, social bonding, conflict resolution, and cooperative survival—reasons that are just as "natural" as reproduction. It is a logical byproduct of an exuberant natural world
Other examples cited include: