User:Annasweetland/sandbox

Article title:

 * Non-reproductive sexual behavior in animals (Non-reproductive sexual behavior in animals)

Homosexual parenting

 * Homosexual parenting is very common, especially in birds. Homosexual pairs have better skills and larger nests than heterosexual pairs. Homosexual pairing can occur different ways, one example would be two female animals with offspring coming together and helping each other raise their offspring.

1) Lead

 * I'm only focusing on the "Homosexual Parenting" portion of the article, not the entire article on "Non-reproductive Sexual Behavior in Animals." So in that case, I feel that homosexual parenting is a pretty accurate lead underneath the overall category of homosexual behavior.
 * The only thing I am slightly confused by and may edit is the section "pair-bonding in homosexuality" right above my the section on homosexual parenting, because I'm wondering if those might be pretty similar and maybe I could just combine the two? I'm referencing same-sex pairing, which I'm relatively sure is the same as what they're mentioning in the pair-bonding section as well as the homosexual parenting section.

2) Organization

 * Like I said, I don't really want to edit the entire article, and I'm just focusing on the one section. But in regards to that section, I think it's not organized super well, like I feel it kind of jumps all over the place. That's why I wanted to edit it though and add specific examples (more than just birds) and better structure/organization.

3) Balance

 * I think for how interesting the topic of homosexual parenting in animals is, the section is pretty sparse.

4) Neutrality

 * I think it's super neutral, but at the same time, there's only three brief sentences of info so...

5) Sources

 * They use one source in this section, and cite it two times among the three sentences. Which I guess makes me wonder where the info in the second sentence came from? I guess I've always thought with citations, if you have multiple references from one source, you just wait to cite it until the last sentence of that sequence, so I guess I wonder if it was necessary to cite the first and third sentence unless the second sentence was the writer's own thinking and not from the book they were citing?

6) Overall

 * I think they were good at staying neutral, I think the writing is fairly simple and easy to digest (not extremely scientific language). But I also think it's very short, doesn't go into enough detail on this topic, and is a little all over the place (lacks transitions). That's why I plan on referencing a couple other studies and working to structure all of the information in such a way that makes sense and flows nicely.

New Potential Information from Articles I Read (notes):
It's fairly uncommon among different species for unrelated individuals of the same sex to raise offspring together (sometimes referred to as cooperative breeding).

2)


 * Summer is peak breeding season for meadow voles; however, going into winter and spring there is a division between the male and female meadow vole populations. These creatures prefer communal nesting (because of the thermoregulatory benefits), and therefore, in the winter and spring female meadow voles will commonly not only nest with another female, but communally nurse their offspring as well. This kind of communal nursing, and same-sex social bonds overall among meadow voles, is actually thought to benefit the young — increasing growth and survival rates.



3)


 * A popular example of this being the female-female pairings of Laysan albatross. This same-sex pairing often occurs in the Laysan albatross populations which have uneven sex ratios (and an overall greater surplus of females). Also, Laysan albatross are known for being monogamous, and this tendency actually allows same-sex parenting to continue and persist.
 * 31% of Laysan albatross pairs in Oahu were female-female.

Homosexual parenting
Homosexual parenting (sometimes referred to as cooperative breeding) is very common in the animal kingdom. Homosexual parenting can occur in different ways, one of the most common being two females (typically related) coming together to help one another raise their offspring. An example of this being in meadow vole populations. Summer is peak breeding season for meadow voles; however, going into winter and spring there is a division between the male and female meadow vole populations. They prefer communal nesting (because of the thermoregulatory benefits), and therefore, in the winter and spring female meadow voles will commonly not only nest with another female, but nurse their offspring together as well. This kind of communal nursing, and same-sex social bonds, among meadow voles is actually thought to benefit the young — increasing growth and survival rates.

Homosexual parenting is especially present among different species of birds, one of the most famous examples being Laysan albatross. It's fairly uncommon among different species for unrelated individuals of the same sex to raise offspring together, but female-female pairings in Laysan albatross populations are one of the exceptions. This same-sex pairing and mutual cooperation in chick-rearing often occurs in the Laysan albatross populations which have uneven sex ratios (and an overall greater surplus of females). Also, Laysan albatross are known for being monogamous, and this tendency actually allows same-sex parenting to persist.