Wild Sex

by Carin Bondar

Overview

Birds do it, bees do it — every member of the animal kingdom does it, from fruit flies to blue whales. But if you think humans have a tough time dating, try having to do it while being hunted down by predators, against a backdrop of unpredictable and life-threatening conditions. The animal kingdom is a wild place – and it’s got mating habits to match. The sex lives of our animal cousins are fiendishly difficult, infinitely varied, often incredibly violent — and absolutely fascinating.In Wild Sex, Dr. Carin Bondar takes readers on an enthralling tour of the animal kingdom as she explores the diverse world of sex in the wild. She looks at the evolution of sexual organs (and how they’ve shaped social hierarchies), tactics of seduction, and the mechanics of sex. She investigates a wide range of topics, from whether animals experience pleasure from sex to what happens when females hold the reproductive power. Along the way, she encounters razor-sharp penises, murderous carnal cannibals, and spontaneous chemical warfare in an epic battle between the sexes.The resulting book is titillating, exhilarating, amusing, petrifying, alluring — and absolutely guaranteed to make you think about sex in a whole new way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681772011
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	08/02/2016
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	848 KB

About the Author

Dr. Carin Bondar received a PhD in population ecology from the University of British Columbia and has since hosted a variety of online and television programs, working with Scientific American, PBS Digital Studios and the Science Channel. She is currently the lead presenter on Discovery World's "Brave New World with Stephen Hawking." Her independent web series "Wild Sex" has engaged over 14 million viewers and was the subject of a presentation given at TED Global in Edinburgh in 2013 which received over 1.5 million views. She lives in British Columbia, Canada.
Dr. Carin Bondar received a PhD in population ecology from the University of British Columbia and has hosted a variety of online and television programs at Scientific American, PBS Digital Studios, and the Science Channel. She is also the author of Wild Sex and lives in British Columbia, Canada.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Section 1 The Meet 1

Call me maybe 3

A little chemical help 6

What's your sign? 13

Plastic partners 18

Super Tramps 27

Monogamy, Really? 35

Trinkets and tokens 46

I'll have what she's having 51

Nice guys finish last 57

Fool me once 61

Secrets and lies 67

Sex or sick? 73

Section 2 The Sex 79

Ejaculate! 81

May the best sperm win 89

The last laugh: cryptic female choice 96

When a boy is a girl too 104

Sex thy self 114

The big O 120

Bestiality 125

Queer as fauna 134

Sexual coercion 144

Cannibalistic females and the males that love them 149

Chastity belts 158

Fifty shades of BDSM in the animal kingdom 167

Give the penis a bone 175

Girls with boy bits 179

Transvestites 186

STIs 193

Section 3 The Aftermath 205

Plastic parents 207

Go ask your dad 215

Extreme lactation 220

Set yourself up for success 227

Take my kids. No really, TAKE THEM! 233

You should not kill a child 241

Child abuse 248

Siblicide 251

Clutch piracy 258

Arrested development 261

Tired old ladies and dirty old men 270

Grandmamas 279

Postscript 287

Prefixes 293

Glossary 295

Bibliography 303

Index TK

Editorial Reviews

05/09/2016
In this chatty and engaging account, science communicator Bondar takes readers on an encyclopedic tour of sex across the animal kingdom. Bondar’s intentions go beyond the prurient in aiming to “enlighten the reader to the fact that sex is a part of almost all decisions made by animals, and it contributes to virtually every facet of social organization and community formation.” She succeeds by taking a thoroughly evolutionary perspective, describing often shocking actions (various forms of sexual violence are remarkably common in nature) and offering explanations for those behaviors. Bondar organizes her short chapters—which often feature provocative titles such as “Cannibalistic Females and the Males That Love Them,” “Fifty Shades of BDSM in the Animal Kingdom,” and “Chastity Belts”—into three sections: “The Meet,” “The Sex,” and “The Aftermath.” Throughout, she examines the conflicting demands on males and females while discussing the prevalence of hermaphroditic creatures and those she terms transvestites, making it clear that simple binary sex determination in nature is largely meaningless. She also explores topics of particular interest to humans, including monogamous pair bonding (which is very rare) and homosexuality (which is very common). Stories about sex are fun to read, and Bondar makes them informative, too. Agent: Jo Sarsby, Jo Sarsby Personal Management Ltd. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"As Bondar proves in Wild Sex, the world of animal mating can be much more complicated than trying to figure out if what you swiped right on is a catfish. Wild Sex looks at the animal laws of attraction, physical act of sex and reproduction patterns of several animal species, including the obstacles some animals must overcome to perpetuate their species: The male redback spider, for example, is consumed by its cannibalistic female partner after copulation. And you thought OkCupid was rough."

Chicago Tribune

"Bondar’s witty writing style packs a lot of fascinating information into easily digestible essays that are extremely thought-provoking."

Booklist (starred review)

"Entertaining. Racy in tone, and full of the sort of lurid detail with which you can reduce a dinner party to silence, this is a lively read with a heavyweight scientific bibliography."

Daily Mail

"A densely packed but hugely entertaining exploration of nookie in the natural world. It is Bondar’s robust relish for her subject and her informed unravelling of the science of sex that make the book so fascinating."

Mail on Sunday (UK)

"Sex and death, mating rituals, mating calls and the animal smells that humans cover with perfumes are all part of this amusing, informed study."

Sydney Morning Herald

"Carin Bondar’s fascinating study is a sort of ‘everything you wanted to know about wildlife sex but were afraid to ask.’ Nookie in the wild is a complete stranger to political correctness. It reads more like the depraved antics of the Greek gods or the nobles in Game Of Thrones."

Daily Express (UK)

"Bondar’s witty writing style packs a lot of fascinating information into easily digestible essays that are extremely thought-provoking."

Booklist

A good combination of everyone's two favorite topics — animals and strange sex stuff.

Jezebel

Entertaining. Racy in tone, and full of the sort of lurid detail with which you can reduce a dinner party to silence, this is a lively read with a heavyweight scientific bibliography.

Daily Mail

As Bondar proves in Wild Sex, the world of animal mating can be much more complicated than trying to figure out if what you swiped right on is a catfish. Wild Sex looks at the animal laws of attraction, physical act of sex and reproduction patterns of several animal species, including the obstacles some animals must overcome to perpetuate their species: The male redback spider, for example, is consumed by its cannibalistic female partner after copulation. And you thought OkCupid was rough.”

Chicago Tribune

Bares all when it comes to the bizzarre body parts and behaviors involved when animals bump uglies. When it comes to salacity, this series has it all. I am more than impressed with the accuracy, indecency, intelligence and humor. Carin's passion for the science behind the sex is what really makes this series work. Amazing — you'll find your brain as aroused as other areas.

Scientific American

06/15/2016
In nature, the sex lives of animals are out in the open for all to see and not behind the bedroom doors with the lights turned off. A regular on Discovery Channel's Outrageous Acts of Science and Stephen Hawking's TV miniseries Brave New World, biologist Bondar (The Nature of Sex: The Ins and Outs of Mating in the Animal Kingdom) breaks down mating rituals in short, comprehensive chapters ("What's Your Sign?"; "The Big O"; "Queer as Fauna") that are a treat to read. Each section focuses on a number of species that entertain such proclivities, and Bondar never holds back on the details. Who doesn't want to hear that many hermaphrodites can self-fertilize or that primates are persistent masturbators? Bondar attempts to tie mating habits to evolutionary traits or genetic characteristics, which helps to put these actions into greater perspective. The book is especially effective when the author demonstrates the long-term impact of these behaviors, though at times the narrative gets caught up in the shock value of the factoids. VERDICT A fascinating and entertaining read for amateur biologists that reminds us that as humans we are not alone in our sexual propensities and prowess.—Rebecca Hill, Zionsville, IN

Library Journal

2016-05-03
A lively exploration of "the nitty-gritty of the diverse sex life of animals."Bondar—who is the lead presenter on Discovery World's Brave New World with Stephen Hawking and whose Web series "Wild Sex" has attracted more than 50 million viewers—doesn't overlook the dark side of a fascinating subject that routinely includes fierce competition, cheating, and even rape. She divides her treatment into three major sections: the search for a mate, the sex act itself, and the various strategies for procreation and the raising of viable offspring. While pair-bonding is by no means uncommon in the animal kingdom, "when it comes to finding and having sex in the animal kingdom, it's rare when there isn't some form of trickery involved." Before the advent of genetic testing, naturalists had falsely assumed that pair-bonding to raise offspring was associated with monogamy. Birds are notoriously sneaky polygamists, and Bondar reports on recent research showing how female mice can internally store the sperm of a number of mates before choosing which she will allow to fertilize her eggs. The author also describes the strange social combat between hermaphroditic earthworms, which engage in "penis-fencing" rituals, attempting "to be the first to stab the other with their razor-sharp penile members…the first successful stabber gets to play the male role." This leads to Bondar's provocative discussion of "the ubiquity of homosexual sex that occurs in nature." The author asserts that homosexuality is simply not unnatural. Bisexuality among nonhumans does not imply homosexuality or same-sex preference, but it can diffuse physical tensions and provide a kind of social glue. As might be expected, she disabuses readers who fantasize about "parenting in the animal kingdom," which is "a far cry from lullabies and snuggly blankets." In fact, infanticide is not uncommon. A fascinating peek into the intimate behavior of our animal cousins that provides new insight into the benefits of being human.

Kirkus Reviews