'Depraved' sex acts by penguins shocked polar explorer

 abercrombie outlet Accounts of unusual sexual activities among penguins, observed a century ago by a member of Captain Scott's polar team, are finally being made public.Details, including "sexual coercion", recorded by George Murray Levick were considered so shocking that they were removed from official accounts.However, scientists now understand the biological reasons behind the acts that Dr Levick considered "depraved".The Natural History Museum has published his unedited papers.Mr Levick, an avid biologist, was the medical officer on Captain Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole in 1910. He was a pioneer in the study of penguins and was the first person to stay for an entire breeding season with a colony on Cape Adare. He recorded many details of the lives of adelie penguins, but some of their activities were just too much for the Edwardian sensibilities of the good doctor. He was shocked by what he described as the "depraved" sexual acts of "hooligan" males who were mating with dead females. So distressed was he that he recorded the "perverted" activities in Greek in his notebook. Graphic account On his return to Britain, Mr Levick attempted to publish a paper entitled "the natural history of the adelie penguin", but according to Douglas Russell, curator of eggs and nests at the Natural History Museum, it was too much for the times. "He submitted this extraordinary and graphic account of sexual behaviour of the adelie penguins, which the academic world of the post-Edwardian era found a little too difficult to publish," Mr Russell said.The sexual behaviour section was not included in the official paper, but the then keeper of zoology at the museum, Sidney Harmer, decided that 100 copies of the graphic account should be circulated to a select group of scientists.

 abercrombie and fitch outletMr Russell said they simply did not have the scientific knowledge at that time to explain Mr Levick's accounts of what he termed necrophilia."What is happening there is not in any way analogous to necrophilia in the human context," Mr Russell said. "It is the males seeing the positioning that is causing them to have a sexual reaction. "They are not distinguishing between live females who are awaiting congress in the colony, and dead penguins from the previous year which just happen to be in the same position."Sexual coercion Only two of the original 100 copies of Mr Levick's account survive. Mr Russell and colleagues have now published a re-interpretation of Mr Levick's findings in the journal Mr Russell described how he had discovered one of the copies by accident. "I just happened to be going through the file on George Murray Levick when I shifted some papers and found underneath them this extraordinary paper which was headed 'the sexual habits of the adelie penguin, not for publication' in large black type."It's just full of accounts of sexual coercion, sexual and physical abuse of chicks, non-procreative sex, and finishes with an account of what he considers homosexual behaviour, and it was fascinating."The report and Mr Levick's handwritten notes are now on display at the Natural History Museum for the first time. Mr Russell believes they show a man who struggled to understand penguins as they really are."He's just completely shocked. He, to a certain extent, falls into the same trap as an awful lot of people in seeing penguins as bipedal birds and seeing them as little people. They're not. They are birds and should be interpreted as such." An Antarctic fur seal has been observed trying to have sex with a king penguin.

 abercrombie and fitch ukThe South African-based scientists who witnessed the incident say it is the most unusual case of mammal mating behaviour yet known. The incident, which lasted for 45 minutes and was caught on camera, is reported in the Journal of Ethology. The bizarre event took place on a beach on Marion Island, a sub-Antarctic island that is home to both fur seals and king penguins.Why the seal attempted to have sex with the penguin is unclear. But the scientists who photographed the event speculate that it was the behaviour of a frustrated, sexually inexperienced young male seal. Equally, it might have been an aggressive, predatory act; or even a playful one that turned sexual. "At first glimpse, we thought the seal was killing the penguin," says Nico de Bruyn, of the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Pinniped behaviour The brazenness of the seal's behaviour left those who saw it in no doubt as to what was happening. De Bruyn and a colleague were on Trypot beach at Marion Island to study elephant seals when they noticed a young, adult male Antarctic fur seal, in good condition, attempting to copulate with an adult king penguin of unknown sex. The 100kg seal first subdued the 15kg penguin by lying on it. The penguin flapped its flippers and attempted to stand and escape - but to no avail. The seal then alternated between resting on the penguin, and thrusting its pelvis, trying to insert itself, unsuccessfully. After 45 minutes the seal gave up, swam into the water and then completely ignored the bird it had just assaulted, the scientists report. Why a fur seal would indulge in such extreme sexual behaviour is unclear.

abercrombie uk outletSexual coercion among animals is extremely common: males of many species often harass, coerce or force females of their own kind to mate, while animals are also known occasionally to harass sexually a member of a closely related species. Harassment is common among pinnipeds, the group of animals that includes seals, fur seals, and sea lions; and occasionally it happens between related species. Male grey seals have been known to harass and mate with female harbour seals, for example, producing hybrids. "Sexual harassment is often more commonplace in non-monogamous mating systems, and in species where males are physically much larger than the other sex and thus physically capable of coercion or harassment," says de Bruyn. But this is thought to be the first recorded example of a mammal trying to have sex with a member of another class of vertebrate, such as a bird, fish, reptile, or amphibian. 'Too young' Chinstrap penguins occasionally indulge in homosexual behaviour, and adelie penguins sometimes "prostitute" themselves to get stones for nest-building; while one in seven emperor penguins will change partners from one year to the next. But generally, king penguins lead straightforward sex lives: males and females pair up for years on end. Marion Island is the only place in the world where Antarctic fur seals are known to hunt king penguins on land, so the idea that the fur seal was trying to eat the object of its attention made sense. "But then we realised that the seal's intentions were rather more amorous."

 cheap abercrombie outlet ukThe researchers speculate that the male seal was too young to win access to female seals, and in a state of sexual excitement, looked elsewhere. But the mating season was nearly over when the incident took place, leading the scientists to also wonder whether the seal's natural predatory aggression toward the bird became redirected into sexual arousal. Equally, the incident may have arisen because the seal was "play-mating". "It was most certainly a once-off and has never previously or since been recorded anywhere in the world to our knowledge," says de Bruyn. The penguin did not appear to have been injured by the seal, the scientists report."When we get new business we need the power to employ people quickly without fear that we can't afford to lay them off in a downturn. At the moment hiring people represents a significant risk."In the region of Rhone Alpes there are now 400,000 people without jobs - a 5% rise in a year. This mirrors the picture across the country. Unemployment has now risen for seven consecutive months (according to the last figures published in November) and the rate now stands at a 12-year high. 'Not valued' Mr Sarkozy is promising to introduce new laws that will make it easier to agree these short-term contracts. But civil engineer Eric Poyet, one of many over-50s searching for a job, remains unconvinced. "I will be voting for Francois Hollande [the Socialist frontrunner]," he says. "We don't feel valued any more. "The current government isn't doing enough for people like me", he says - adding that he can find short-term contract work, but wants something better.Critics say the reforms Mr Sarkozy is proposing are late and, coming at the 11th hour in the parliamentary calendar, can only be part of his re-election strategy.Moreover France, like most other European countries, faces the twin conflicting imperatives of trying to find growth while lowering debt. Without the funds to stimulate the economy it is difficult to see how he can make a significant difference before the country goes to the polls in April.