Sexual Evolution

How 500 million years of sex, gender and mating shape modern relationships

By: Nathan H. Lents

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Hardcover | 9 September 2025

At a Glance

Hardcover
336 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
24.0 x 15.9

Hardcover

RRP $39.99

$35.75

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A perspective-altering and deeply researched journey through the history of sexuality and gender across the animal kingdom by forensic biologist and university professor Nathan H. Lents

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. Amusing, enlightening and meticulously researched, Lents convincingly shows that diverse genders and sexuality have evolutionary functions far beyond procreation. The Sexual Evolution is a perspective-altering book that advocates understanding and demolishes biases held by even the most open-minded among us.

Industry Reviews

'A fascinating and important exploration of nature in all its rich, queer glory' - DAVID FARRIER, author of FOOTPRINTS and NATURE'S GENIUS

'An unnaturally good book - funny, informative and refreshingly frank. The Sexual Evolution injects a timely splash of colour into a field increasingly polarised towards black and white. A must read' -ED WATKINS, Producer and Director of QUEER PLANET

'Enthralling . . . Lents gleefully tears down cis, hetero and monogamous norms, outlining surprising case studies that give the lie to restrictive conceptions of gender and sex. The result is an indispensable glimpse into the queerness of animals' - Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

'In this multi-layered exploration of gender biology, 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' - DEBORAH BLUM, Pulitzer-prize winning author of THE POISON SQUAD

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