A long-term observational study found that male and female long-tailed macaques from the island of Bali, Indonesia frequently used stone tools as sex toys.
Primate sex toys
Described in the review Ethologythis behavior has been observed in many specimens of Macaca fascicularis free, living in and around the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in the heart of Bali. Between 2016 and 2019, Camilla Cenni, from the Canadian University of Lethbridge, and her colleagues captured hundreds of video footage showing male and female individuals rubbing or tapping stones on their genitals.
While these gestures likely provided pleasure in males (they usually preceded erection and were often performed in a sexual context), assessing it in females proved more complicated. According to Cenni, the fact that the latter tend to use rougher and more angular stones suggests that they provide greater stimulation.
good that the masturbation has been documented in many other primate species, it is normally performed with the hands, feet, or mouth, without the use of external objects, and primarily in males. Only a handful of examples of ” tool assisted masturbation has been observed in non-human primates, including the use of a plastic bottle and a piece of fruit.
« Both male and female Balinese macaques have likely expanded their range of masturbatory practices because they have more free time “says Cyril Grueter of the University of Western Australia. ” The fact that humans provide them with some of their food means that these primates spend less time looking for it and more on non-essential activities, such as masturbation with stone sex toys.. »
Just for fun
Previously, other studies exploring masturbation in primates had suggested that this act helped eliminate poor quality sperm, this does not apply to male Balinese macaques, as the use of stone objects does not appear to not lead to ejaculation.
According to Grueter, such behavior would simply be retained because it is a source of pleasure. ” As long as a behavior does not negatively affect an individual’s physical condition, it is not necessarily eliminated. “, explains the researcher. ” In other words, there is no evolutionary reason for macaques to stop masturbating, as long as they continue to mate and father offspring.. »
Until now, these facetious creatures were best known for haggle over goods stolen from tourists in exchange for food.