Do creatures that reproduce take pleasure while doing so?

Question

I know of only human and dolphins are the only animals that have sex for pleasure, but do other creatures, insects or mammals... have pleasure too, like is there a building up process then an orgasm or what?

Answer 1

Animals are not smart enough to do family planning. They reproduce because they enjoy it.

Answer 2

Most mammals have sex for the pleasure. It's a myth that only humans (and now dolphins) do it for pleasure.

The pleasure is what motivates many animals to mate.

Answer 3

Depends on what kind of brain they have, if they have one. We have a pleasure center that rewards us for doing things that are needed for our survival.

If an animal is complex enough to appraise the risks of seeking a mate then they probably enjoy it on some level, just so the balance is tilted in favor of behavior that is inherently risky.

If it's all automatic and unconsidered like insects and fish I'd wager there's no real pleasure in the act.

Answer 4

I would imagine that all creatures that reproduce sexually take pleasure in it. Primarily because it is extremely advantageous to the species. I mean, if sex were painful or not enjoyable, then those creatures would probably avoid it. Natural selection would almost immediately weed out those slow reproducing creatures in favor of sex crazed pleasure maniacs.

Answer 5

only male shakes take pleasure in reproducing since sharks have no hands and feet they bite the female shark in her gills to hold her steady. I'm sure that not to pleasurable for the female shark.

Answer 6

What an interesting question. And not, because we all have just left puberty and find all things "sex" hilarious. rather, it is indeed a problem neurobiologists, behavior biologists, philosophers etc. etc. try to tackle: do animals feel pleasure?

Before I attempt answering the question, let me quickly say this: great apes, like chimpanzees and bonobos, engage in sex for various reasons, most likely involving pleasure. I am not sure where you got the information that dolphins and humans are the only species to do so, but let's just say that indeed hominids and cetaceans seem to have certain cognitive abilities abscent from other animals. But I will come back to that. First, let's ask what 'pleasure' may be.

How then do we define pleasure? If it already qualifies as pleasure to avoid harmful environments and stay in more comfortable surroundings, the answer would be rather easy. If pleasure however is a little more than just a physiological response to a given situation, the answer to your question becomes more complex. For example, if you think of pleasure as 'enjoyment,' a state that involves sensual, emotional, and mental experiences, your question would also indirectly ask about the ability of animals to experience such complex emotional states.

Neurobiologist Antonio Damasio has long studied emotions and feelings as part of his main interest, namely what constitute consciousness and self-consciousness. He defines emotions as particular brain states in response to environmental situations. Accordingly, emotional states are not simply sensation or perception. Rather, it involves brain activity in various areas connected to lower neural levels. Feelings then would be the self-conscious reflection upon the emotional state. In other words, a fish at the sight of a predator will have an emotional state, but no feeling, like we would if we were face to face with a big hungry man-eating shark (which of course is already a construct of our imagination). Hence, the fish will respond with "fear," i.e., fleeing the scene, whereas a human would have a more complex fear response including a conceptualization of the ramifications of dying at the teeth of a shark.

How does that help with your question? Well, at least in as far as that we have to be sure that we are not simply talking about an emotional state, but about a more complex experience when we use the word "pleasure". So for the sake of the discussion, I would like to say that pleasure indeed involves more complex aspects than "just" emotions.

That said, the next problem to resolve would have actually two parts: 1) Is pleasure only human? And 2), if not, are there different degrees of pleasure? Here now, we are in a difficult spot, and the answers to these questions will depend largley on who you talk to. But experiments on great apes and dolphins have demonstrated a cognitive divide, In mirror experiments, both great apes and dolphins are able to recognize themselves, whereas monkeys and other animals do not. This suggests that apes, dolphins and humans have a certain self-awareness, and possibly self-consciousness. But the fact that human self-consciousness is of a different quality than that of a chimpanzee (not of lesser value, but of greater complexity) suggests that the degree of our cognitive abilities is in fact the outcome of an evolutionary process producing differently complex brains. Self-consciousness would certainly be the prerequisite for pleasure as I defined it, so at least we can argue that apes and some whales are indeed able to feel pleasure. Therefore, the answers to the two questions would be, (1) humans are not the only species to feel pleasure, and (2) not all species able to feel pleasure experience the same complexity of pleasure.

That said, the next question would be, do apes and dolphins indeed have sex for pleasure? (Your question asks about procreation, and although those two things are connected, I leave this out here. The reason being the following: if animals mate to procreate, they would do so preferably during certain periods of the female cycle, like her estrous. Also, they would do so depending on other environmental factors, like season, food availability, predator presence, etc. etc. Your question, however, is aimed at 'pleasure' as a motivating factor. So, I assume you want to know whether animals can have sex for pleasure even at times when procreation is not the goal.)

Studies in bonobos have shown that in this species lots of social interactions, like conflict, reconciliation, consolation etc. take place in sexual interactions. Here now, sex takes on numerous functions other than procreation. As a matter of fact, animals here seem to use sex for two reasons: it dissolves aggressions and it supports peaceful social interactions. I am convinced it is fun for them, too. Hence, I would answer positively here and say that yes, apes and dolphins have sex for pleasure.

Hope this helps.

Answer 7

It has also been confirmed in the past that Primates i.e. Chimpanzees, also have sex for pleasure.

Answer 8

I do not know but can I put on a monkey suit and come over? you looked like a sweety.
I think the monkey siut will prove what ever you want it to prove.

Answer 9

ok there r only two animals that enjoy sex....dolphins and humans

Answer 10

well they've proven pig orgasms last 30 minutes so what do you think?