"so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel"

[hicaniplay]

Artwork from this lovely person: http://humon.deviantart.com/
All based on reality, on real animals and nature.
Just thought they were fun, I like animals, so thought I'd share.

Most of these were sent around on Tumblr with this description:
"For anyone who only sees gender and sex in black and white, here’s proof by the lovely humon that nature is just as fluid with representations of gender and sex as we are."







(Not included is that bonobos have sex face to face like humans, and even kiss with tongues.)


The reasons for the human figures? In her own words:
"I love the weird and wonderful mating rituals of animals. I'll illustrate them with these human looking figures because part of the fun is to imagine if humans did the same."

There's more, she even has a small book available: http://manalanextdoor.com/shop/animal-mating

But for now I'll just leave off with this last image (same artist)

[deisha718]

At first I thought this thread was going to be about the Bloodhound Gang. lol Those concept drawings are very...unique.  But I learned some news stuff off of those descriptions.  So gender roles are switched among certain species, huh? The seahorse mating description somewhat creeped me out.

[hicaniplay]

Yeah I thought Bloodhound Gang lyrics fit, with the subject matter and especially with the artwork lol

If the Seahorse creeps you out, how do you feel about the clownfish?
(not entirely "work-safe" picture here: http://humon.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=clownfish#/d2ys49b)

"A clownfish family looks like this: one female with one breeding male, and a group of non-breeding males who are just sort of hanging around. If the female dies, the breeding male will transform into a female, and one of the other males will become the new breeding male."




Wikipedia: "In a group of clownfish, there is a strict dominance hierarchy. The largest and most aggressive female is found at the top. Only two clownfish, a male and a female, in a group reproduce through external fertilization. Clownfish are sequential hermaphrodites, meaning that they develop into males first, and when they mature, they become females. If the female clownfish is removed from the group, such as by death, one of the largest and most dominant males will become a female. The remaining males will move up a rank in the hierarchy."

"Protandrous hermaphrodites refer to organisms that are born male and at some point in their lifespan change sex to female. Protandrous animals include clownfish. Clownfish have a very structured society. In the Amphiprion percula species, there are zero to four individuals excluded from breeding and a breeding pair living in a sea anemone. Dominance is based on size, the female being the largest and the male being the second largest. The rest of the group is made up of progressively smaller non-breeders, which have no functioning gonads. If the female dies, the male gains weight and becomes the female for that group. The largest non-breeding fish then sexually matures and becomes the male of the group."

(There are also species that change from female to male.)

So gender roles are switched among certain species, huh?

Yeah, and more than that. lol Makes it a little harder to call something "unnatural" when you can find an animal species doing it, huh?

[deisha718]

Well, animals are a different species.  So of course they wouldn't have the same standards of living as us. lol I tried to look at the clownfish picture, but i'm having trouble logging into my deviantart account.  The mature filter is on, so I couldn't see the picture unless I was logged in.  However, I did read the description under the link and that was very freaky. It sounds like something you would see in a movie.  I had no idea animals could have the possibility of becoming hermaphrodites like human beings.

[Shandara09]

Thanks for sharing this.  I love to learn new things about animals and the drawings were a fun little twist on things. 

[hicaniplay]

Well, animals are a different species.  So of course they wouldn't have the same standards of living as us. lol

Ahaha. Yeah. I was mostly remembering a conversation I had with a friend. He said being gay wasn't natural. I went off and listed a bunch of species and specific examples, then ended with asking why being "natural" was something lauded (or what it even meant) since when was his car natural and also, it's natural in some species to eat their young and do other bad things.
He turned it around on me in the next conversation, saying he didn't care if being gay was natural, since some species eat their own young, humans should rise above base instincts. 


So sorry, was more talking to myself than you I guess? lol

lol I tried to look at the clownfish picture, but i'm having trouble logging into my deviantart account.  The mature filter is on, so I couldn't see the picture unless I was logged in.  However, I did read the description under the link and that was very freaky. It sounds like something you would see in a movie.  I had no idea animals could have the possibility of becoming hermaphrodites like human beings.

Yeah, animals are great. Science fiction and magical freaky! Nature is so much broader than a lot of movie and book writer's imaginations.

Thanks for sharing this.  I love to learn new things about animals and the drawings were a fun little twist on things. 

I'm glad you enjoyed them! I loved them too. 

Anything about animals and biology interests me, as that's my favorite subject.

I recently found the artist and would recommend their other work btw. I have just been devouring it the last week. It's often simple, but funny and the ideas are fairly unique and interesting.
A few comics, but they were also sketching ideas for future species in a mythical world, based on animal species. Sorta the above, but with some different looks to the humans (like "elves" are slightly different looking than humans) but focusing on the culture. I found them intriguing and I hope they continue developing it.

[Zhongmou]

I love the last picture!