According to many people’s thinking,the word promiscuity is synonymous with immorality.However new scientific research has shown that promiscuity isn’t that bad, after all! While the randy behaviour of male animals has been lauded as a way of spreading their genes,a lot of sex has been found to weaken female animals thus lowering their lifespans.However, recent research has found that promiscuity in animals to be an effective way of countering the drawbacks of inbreeding.

With many organisms being small in number,chances of a female mating with a close kin are quite high.This may result in genetically deformed offspring that have ver low chances of survival.Thus, when a female animal mates with different males, the best sperm is given an opportunity to fertilise her eggs.And this can help overcome inbreeding among such small populations.

A UK based ecologist, Matthew Gage and colleagues have found that polyandry(multiple mating) was of great benefit to inbred females.To be exact, Gage’s reasearch established that females who mated with only one male had offsprings with 50% fewer survival chances set against their counterparts with a chance of with multiple males.

The researchers also embarked on further reasearch with beetles.They began by acquiring some inbred samples by mating close kins.They also got outbred beetles and began observing the mating behaviour of the two for comparison.They found that the outbred female beetles were not promiscuous.They however found that the inbred ones were more sexually active,mating with many different males and producing offspring that survived for longer time.

This research has stirred reactions from various quarters around the world.Theoretically,it is believed that the same results will be replicated in other animals.

Thus,as scientists Rhonda Snook of UK and Goran Arnqvist of Sweden have said, promiscuity in animals can be a beneficial thing, after all!