title: Mathematical toy model inspired by the problem of the adaptive origins of the sexual orientation continuum.
abstract: Same-sex sexual behaviour is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom, but its adaptive origins remain a prominent puzzle. Here, I suggest the possibility that same-sex sexual behaviour arises as a consequence of the competition between an evolutionary drive for a wide diversity in traits, which improves the adaptability of a population, and a drive for sexual dichotomization of traits, which promotes opposite-sex attraction and increases the rate of reproduction. This trade-off is explored via a simple mathematical 'toy model'. The model exhibits a number of interesting features and suggests a simple mathematical form for describing the sexual orientation continuum.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0774-3563
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Skinner
keywords: adaptation; sexual orientation; statistical mechanics; toy model