Your email address is used to log in and will not be shared or sold. Read our privacy policy. If you are a Zinio, Nook, Kindle, Apple, or Google Play subscriber, you can enter your website access code to gain subscriber access. Your website access code is located in the upper right corner of the Table of Contents page of your digital edition. Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that a nonhuman sexual stimulus would elicit a genital response in women but not in men. Eighteen heterosexual women and 18 heterosexual men viewed seven sexual film stimuli, six human films and one nonhuman primate film, while measurements of genital and subjective sexual arousal were recorded. Women showed small increases in genital arousal to the nonhuman stimulus and large increases in genital arousal to both human male and female stimuli.

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Monkey business
The discovery has prompted a lot of marveling from the media. There are numerous documented instances of animal masturbation , a habit enjoyed by primates as well as creatures including dolphins, elephants, penguins, and bats. Although the role of the sika deer adds a layer of complexity: Can a deer consent to interspecies frottage? That matter aside, there are a lot of animals out there who are, if you will, spanking the monkey. So if macaques do it, dolphins do it, birds and probably even bees do it, why do humans still have so much difficulty talking about sexual pleasure?
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By Michael Marshall. Supposedly, if women live together their hormonal cycles start to synchronise, thanks to a pheromone. If that were true it would mean that they all have their period simultaneously. Just think about it. But it may not really exist. Studies have had mixed results , often reporting no synchrony at all.
Male Japanese macaques were first filmed earlier this year mounting female sika deer in Minoo, Japan. The Minoo macaques and deer are not the only animals known to look for sex outside their own species. Antarctic fur seals have been observed trying to mate with king penguins , while types of bird, cat and dolphin has also been known to carry out the behaviour. This grooming was specifically directed to body parts that are not easily accessed by the deer. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging discussions and hear from the journalists? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium.