The Sexual Evolution: How 500 Million Years of Sex, Gender, and Mating Shape Modern Relationships―A Provocative Look at Sexual Behavior Through the

The Sexual Evolution: How 500 Million Years of Sex, Gender, and Mating Shape Modern Relationships―A Provocative Look at Sexual Behavior Through the

“A bulletproof case that sexual diversity exists in the natural world…The Sexual Evolution is a thoughtfully and delightfully written book full of illuminating and entertaining information that will be new to most readers. At a time when ignorance and misinformation about sex, gender, reproduction, and intimacy abound, we could all benefit from reading this research-packed tour.” — Science  Evolutionary biologist Nathan H. Lents knows what makes humans unique—and as he reveals in this fascinating work of pop science, it’s most definitely not our sexual diversity. A professor at John Jay College, Lents has spent his career studying what makes us, well, us, and contrary to what the culture warriors want people to believe—diverse sexual behavior is not a new development, or even a human one. It didn’t just emerge from a progressive culture; it’s the product of billions of years of evolutionary experimentation throughout the animal kingdom. It’s not a modern story, a Florida story, or even a human story. It’s a biological story. In The Sexual Evolution, Lents takes readers on a journey through the animal world, exploring the evolutionary biology that reveals what the incredible array of sexual diversity can teach us about our own diverse beauty. Nature, it turns out, has made a lot of space for the full spectrum of gender and sexuality. And why? Because when it comes to evolution—diversity wins. This is not just a political or social message, instead it’s rooted in science and cultivated from understanding the full breadth of sexuality that exists throughout the world. With shades of both Frans de Waal and Esther Perel, Lents’s storytelling is as fascinating as it is topical, offering eye-opening stories about the diversity of animal life, while relating it to our own sexual journey as a species. At once a forceful rebuttal to bigotry and a captivating dive into the biology of sex, The Sexual Evolution is the rare book that leans into the controversy. Sex, the reactionaries say, should only be for procreation between a man and a woman, anything else goes against nature. Well, nature would like a word with them. The Science of Sexuality: Go beyond cultural debates to explore the biological story of sex, from the evolution of gametes to the complex behaviors of our closest animal relatives. - Gender Diversity in Nature: Discover how animals have been experimenting with gender expression for millions of years, featuring sex-switching clownfish, multiple male genders in sunfish, and more. - Same-Sex Behavior in the Animal Kingdom: From lesbian albatrosses to gay rams and the famously queer bonobos, see how homosexual behavior is not only natural but serves a crucial purpose in social animals. - A Rebuttal to Bigotry: Arm yourself with a bulletproof, research-packed case that demolishes the claim that sexual diversity is “unnatural” and affirms that when it comes to evolution, diversity wins. "In this multilayered exploration of gender biology, The Sexual Evolution, Nathan Lents takes us on a wonderfully thoughtful journey through some of today's most challenging scientific terrain. The result is a book that expertly balances the complexity of the issues and the compassion needed to navigate them, in other words, exactly the kind of guide to the subject that we all need today."  - Deborah Blum, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the 20th Century “A lot of people seem to think they know what science says when it comes to sex. Well, Nathan Lents has news for them. Read this book—it’s fascinating, charming, and eye-opening, with lovely ink drawings that bring the animals in its pages to life. It dispels misconceptions about life in the animal kingdom and our place in it, but most importantly it shows clearly that nature’s beautiful sexual diversity extends to all living things—especially humans.” - Joan Roughgarden, Professor Emerita of Biology, Stanford University, author of Evolution’s Rainbow and The Genial Gene “An excellent, easy-to-read, science-based summary of what we know about the incredible array of sexual diversity among other animals. A fascinating and eye-opening book.”  - Marc Bekoff, author of Dogs Demystified: An A-to-Z Guide to All Things Canine and The Emotional Lives of Animals. “A refreshing read that puts human sexuality in perspective without cultural dogma and indoctrination. With eye-opening stories of animal behavior, Lents highlights the fundamental role of sexual diversity for all animals—including humans. Humans are sexual creatures, but we are sexual in so many ways that do not conform to Western notions of sexuality.  The Sexual Evolution  tells this story, and so much more, with the clarity and urgency that it so justly deserves.” - Darrel Ray, Ed.D., author of Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality, Founder and President, Recovering from Religion “Enthralling . . . Lents gleefully tear