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The De-Scent of Sexuality: Did Loss of a Pheromone Signaling Protein Permit the Evolution of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior in Primates?

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A Commentary to this article was published on 24 April 2020

A Commentary to this article was published on 21 April 2020

A Commentary to this article was published on 09 April 2020

A Commentary to this article was published on 05 December 2019

A Commentary to this article was published on 18 November 2019

A Commentary to this article was published on 08 November 2019

A Commentary to this article was published on 23 October 2019

Abstract

Primate same-sex sexual behavior (SSSB) is rarely observed in strepsirrhine species, and only somewhat more common in platyrrhines, but is observed in nearly all catarrhine species, including humans, suggesting the common catarrhine ancestor as the origin of routine SSSB. In mice, disruption of the transient receptor potential cation channel 2 (TRPC2) gene, which is crucial for transducing chemosensory signals from pheromones in the vomeronasal organ, greatly increased the likelihood of SSSB. We note that catarrhine primates share a common deleterious mutation in this gene, indicating that the protein was dysfunctional in the common catarrhine ancestral primate approximately 25 mya (million years ago). We hypothesize that the loss of this protein for processing pheromonal signals in males and females made SSSB more likely in a primate ancestral species by effectively lifting a pheromonally mediated barrier to SSSB and that this was an important precursor to the evolution of such behavior in humans. Additional comparisons between SSSB and the functional status of the TRPC2 gene or related proteins across primate species could lend support to or falsify this hypothesis. Our current research indicates that loss of TRPC2 function in developing mice leads to the loss or attenuation of sexually dimorphisms in the adult brain, which may help us to understand the biological underpinnings of SSSB. Our hypothesis offers an ultimate evolutionary explanation for SSSB in humans.

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by National Science Foundation (Grant No. NSF 12-061).

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  1. Neuroscience Program, Michigan State University, Giltner Hall, 293 Farm Lane, Room 108, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1101, USA

    Daniel Pfau, Cynthia L. Jordan & S. Marc Breedlove

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  1. Daniel Pfau
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  2. Cynthia L. Jordan
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Pfau, D., Jordan, C.L. & Breedlove, S.M. The De-Scent of Sexuality: Did Loss of a Pheromone Signaling Protein Permit the Evolution of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior in Primates?. Arch Sex Behav 50, 2267–2276 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1377-2

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