The Sexual Evolution : How 500 million years of sex, gender and mating shape modern relationships

Publisher: Canongate Books
Publish date: 12 February 2026
Pages: 336
Binding: Paperback
Language: English

Subjects: Science, Life Sciences, Zoology, Social Science, Gender Studies

We find ourselves in a time of great social upheaval. People are testing the boundaries of just about everything related to sex and gender. Biological sex, long thought to be a simple binary, is now being understood as a spectrum. Gender is being uncoupled from sex and expanded to an astounding range of diversity. The traditional categories of sexual attraction are being supplanted by more creative labels. Where is this shift coming from? The answer may surprise you. Diverse sexual behaviour is not a new development, or even a human one. It didn't emerge from recent progressive culture, it's the product of billions of years of experimentation throughout the animal kingdom. Evolutionary biologist Nathan H. Lents takes readers on a journey from silent crickets to lesbian albatrosses to bonobos who kiss, revealing what this incredible array of sexual diversity can teach us about our own.