Observed in Indonesia |
Monkeys use rocks as sex toys
Monkeys using tools is nothing new. The clever animals use them to get food and overcome obstacles. The fact that they use it to have fun on a sexual level is new, however.
But that’s exactly what the long-tailed macaques do in Indonesia. Researchers have now come to this conclusion. Studying a population of 173 of these monkeys, they observed the animals tapping and rubbing themselves with rocks on their genitals and groin area. They published their findings in an article in the journal Ethology“.
These data partially support the theory that the behavior is “sexually motivated.” Which means the monkeys appeared to be performing “a form of self-directed, tool-assisted masturbation,” Camilla Cenni, a graduate student at the University of Lethbridge in Canada and author of the study, told the New York Times.
What is described in a somewhat awkward-sounding scientific language means nothing else in plain language than: They just have what it takes …
(kvg)