A Little Queer Natural History

A natural history book published by the Natural History Museum, London which provides just a taste of the vast diversity of sexuality in the natural world. It examines penguins, fish, dinosaurs, lizards, butterflies, gorillas, sheep, trees, swans, turtles, giraffes, insects, eels, sparrows, hyenas, gulls, dolphins, pheasants, mushrooms, herbs, frogs, and tomatoes. They regularly exhibit such natural behaviors as same-sex parenting, asexual reproduction, intersexuality, same-sex mating, sexual fluidity, sex-reversed genitals, changeable sex, bacteria-dependent sex-determination, female-led societies, thousands of genetic sexes, and possibly even gender (which, of course, is a social construct).

Though it’s oddly shaped and the show more photographs are gorgeous, this is no lightweight coffee-table book. The author is a science writer and each section contains detailed descriptions of advanced genetic and biological concepts and thoughtful critique of the scientific establishment that has historically sidelined and buried research on animal sexuality. For example, in 1911 the very first person to ever study and document adelie penguins wrote extensively about their queer behaviors but his employer, the very same Natural History Museum, London, refused to publish that section and it was lost for 100 years.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone who likes animals or natural history. I checked it out from the library but a purchased copy is on its way to me as I write this! Although they won’t listen, I would especially like to recommend this book to anyone who thinks that being gay or queer or nonbinary or transgender isn’t natural - you are wrong. show less