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Giraffe - A male giraffe begins the mating process by rubbing a female's backside with his head until she urinates. He then proceeds to drink the urine to discover if she is in heat.

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Giraffe - Multiple males may fight over a female by swinging their necks at one another. The winner mates with the female, but only if she allows him to.

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Tamarin monkey - Tamarin monkey families can differ from one another, but the most common structure consists of one female and two males.

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Tamarin monkey - As males care for the young and females typically give birth to twins, this family structure makes the most sense as each male has the responsibility of caring for one baby.

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Discus fish - Male discus fish have a larger responsibility than most other males in the animal kingdom.

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Discus fish - After a monogamous pair mates, the female lays the eggs and protects them while the male protects her. When the eggs hatch, both parents feed the babies with a milky secretion from their skin.

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Red-sided garter snake - Indigenous to North America, a single female snake can be pursued by more than 100 males at one time.

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Red-sided garter snake - The males all swarm the female at the same time, resulting in a sort of mating ball. If a female isn't strong enough to roll the males off her and escape the entanglement, this ritual may end up killing her.

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Bowerbird - A male's beautiful colors and dance moves aren't enough for a female. He must also build a two-sided structure, known as a bower, to impress her.

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Bowerbird - As females are quite picky, males will use anything they can find to make their structure more attractive and prove that they can provide for her, including flowers, leaves, and even bits of plastic.

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Bonobo -

Bonobos are known for being quite frisky. Not only do they have sex to reproduce, they are commonly found engaging in the activity purely for pleasure, or even to resolve conflict.

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Bonobo -

Monogamy and heterosexuality do not exist in the bonobo's world. They engage in various types of sexual activities with multiple partners and both genders.

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Snail - The land snail has a small appendage sticking out from between its antennae that it uses for reproduction.

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Snail - When mating, one snail propels the tiny structure into the head of the other, releasing a stream of sperm. As most snails are hermaphrodites, they are all capable of being inseminated and carrying offspring.

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Seahorse - A female seahorse injects her eggs into the pouch of a male, where they are fertilized. The male then becomes pregnant and carries the babies to maturity.

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Seahorse - Seahorses are also very loving and affectionate with each other. While the male is pregnant, the female will fuss about him and repeatedly touch him gently.

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Spotted hyena - The spotted hyena completely flips our gender roles upside down. Females rank higher in the hierarchy than males and are more dominant and aggressive.

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Spotted hyena - Females also have pseudopenises, which give them complete control over mating. In order for a male to mate with a female, she must willingly retract her pseudopenis and create an opening for the male to enter.

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Flatworms - This marine animal is a hermaphrodite and when it is time to mate, it fights over which role it will take on.

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Flatworms - The mating pair duel with their penises in an attempt to stab the other and inseminate them first.

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Anglerfish - This deep-ocean fish takes clinginess to a whole new level. As finding a mate can be difficult in the vast depths of the sea, when a male finds a female, he bites her and latches on.

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Anglerfish - The two then literally fuse together until they share the same circulatory system. A male gets his nutrition from the female while she uses his sperm when she wants to reproduce.

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Clown fish - Clown fish are sequential hermaphrodites and all develop initially into males. In a given group of clown fish, there is one lone female, who is generally larger and more dominant than the rest.

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Clown fish - The largest male is second in command and is the only one who gets to mate with the female. If the female dies, this male will then change gender and become the new female leader, continuing the cycle.

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Black widow - As black widow females are larger than males, a male attempting to mate runs the risk of getting caught in the female's web, mistaken for prey, and eaten.

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Black widow - A male announces that it comes in peace by vibrating its abdomen. As it moves across the web, it repeatedly vibrates and pauses, continuing the pattern until it reaches the female.

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Cuttlefish - Males attract females by choosing the best rock they can find for egg-laying. A female then chooses the biggest and strongest male to mate with.

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Cuttlefish - The catch is that females actually prefer smaller and smarter males. In order to catch the attention of the female, the smaller male will disguise himself as female and act interested in a bigger, stronger male.

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Cuttlefish -

After a female sees this, the smaller male will reveal his true gender and she happily mates with him as well.

See also:  Rare human body features you didn’t know exist

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