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People who research the love lives of alligators recently discovered the big reptiles tend to be faithful partners, in direct contrast to what is generally known about the sorts of people who would, say, go to a bar wearing alligator pants or some such. In the past, researchers had thought alligators were indiscriminate about whom they mated with, but a 10-year study has shown females will return to the same males year after year, passing up a veritable swampload of eligible dudes.
While that's all warm and cuddly for reptiles, the same can't be said for the sexual habits of all animals. And with that in mind, let's check out some of the loosest animals in nature.
Garter Snakes
Snake sex is, by and large, unsettling ... or awesome -- it all depends on your worldview. That aside, for red-sided garter snakes, the plan when it comes to getting busy is to form a giant, writhing mass of up to 30,000 of your closest pals in the hopes that at least one of them is a female and nature will take its course somehow.
BonobosBonobo apes are one of the most sexual species of animals (primates, represent!) on the planet and use sexual activity the way some people use their hands when talking. Pretty much anything will get a bonobo ready to go –- meeting a new friend, having dinner, settling a dispute. Bonobos also shake things up by regularly engaging in acts such as oral sex and face-to-face sex.
Brown AntechinusThis little rodent, which for all intents and purposes is a glorified mouse, has one standout feature when it comes to mating: Nothing, nothing at all, will stop him from humping as many lady mice as he can find for up to 12 hours at a time (per female). Not even exhaustion will make him reconsider, as they have been known to continue mating until the strain causes them to die. And we were using cheese as bait all these years.
Sea HaresIs there anything quite so alluring as undersea slug love? Sea hares know this too and apparently turn themselves on so much they can't just have one partner at a time. Lucky for them they're all hermaphrodites, so everyone's bits fit somewhere, thus making their love chains of several sludgy undersea slime tubes both efficient and delightful for all involved.
Topi AntelopesFemale Topis aren't really in the mood for love all that often -- they tend to breed only one day per year. But for that one day they are sexual dynamos. The female will go to town nonstop for the whole day if she can, mating with up to four or five males. The males, on the other hand, have been observed to actually flee from females to avoid sexual encounters as the aggressive females are sometimes just too much for them. Poor guys.
Fiddler CrabsResearch shows that female fiddler crabs do way more fiddling than anyone guessed, and they do it to get ahead in life. Females will set up shop near males who protect them from predators in exchange for what scientists describe as "booty calls." Usually the crabs are territorial and watch out for number one, but males have been observed to fend off intruders for their female neighbors who then provide them with "favors" out in the open, in contrast to the regular mating habits which are usually both selective and done in private.
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