---I don't know what you mean by "clearly defined" but what I have is a naturalistic environment with consistently observed behaviors (which has empirical validity). I think taking the male out (Sonny) and leaving Louie in with only the females would actually provide less empirical validity (for the conclusion of his behavior as homosexual).---



I was quoting your original post when I used the term "clearly defined". You have a controlled environment: no matter how large the pen (and your is not particularly spacious at all, considering the average home range of the species), your turtles are being kept in artificially prolonged and close contact.



Based on what you have shared, your observations have little if any empirical validity, because you have not attempted to provide any 'control' scenarios.



Leaving Louie alone with the females would be an excellent way of testing the validity of your theory: if he were to mate with any of the females, we would know that he was in fact not homosexual.



Removing Sonny from the enclosure could inform your assessment of 'monogamy', should Louie decide to attempt (or not) the same behavior with the other adult male.



In short, you haven't actually tested your theory, which renders your conclusion invalid, at least until actually proven by testing.



Many species use mating/mounting behavior on members of the same sex to establish dominance.

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]