Who was the first to have sex?

Well, the answer depends on what you believe.

If you believe the Bible, then, first, animals had sex, since, per the Bible and creation, animals were created prior to humans. So, likely, they were already procreating at this point.

The first humans would therefore be Adam and Eve, who had sex.

If you believe evolution, some organisms had sex. and it went from there.

if you live in Kentucky, the answer to your last question is: Cletus and a mule named Buttercup.

Animals were here before us, and before them bacteria i think dont quote me on that . so it was the first livin form that reproduced

You know, if you are for real, this seems to be a question, you should ask a priest.

A priest? Or a scientist?

ask your parents. for sure they had sex before you.

@eponymoushipster

Our opinions as to who was the first to have sex might depend on what we believe, but the actual objective reality does not. Something was the first to have sex. Some people are right, some are wrong.

Now that we’ve gotten semantic nonsense out of the way…

The first organisms were unicellular organisms like bacteria. You couldn’t really classify them as having “sex” as they just replicate themselves. The first to have sex would probably have been the first species to develop two separate genders that are required to have sex in order to reproduce. They existed far before humans.

I believe @eponymoushipster has it correct. My only question: is that considered cheating?

Who knows. Adam and Eve may have been created first, but that doesn’t mean that 10 minutes later 50 other couples weren’t created with dirt and a rib. Interesting question.

@ubersiren that is true. There is no way to prove that adam and eve were the first humans to have sex. there could have been others that we do not know about that could have been first

Gaia and Uranus.

@Thizdude yeah, Lillith. that is, until she realized she Eve didn’t like her back, and she moved to Providence to open an antique store. Years later, she created a music festival.

Evolutionary theory, which seems to be the most likely theory we have regarding the development of humans, suggests that our hominid predecessors had sex and eventually mutated into the species we call homo sapien.

Anthropology is awesome.

Eukaryote appear to be the first to reproduce sexually.
From the article above “Each gamete has just one complement of chromosomes, each a unique mix of the corresponding pair of parental chromosomes.”
“In most eukaryotes, there is also a process of sexual reproduction, typically involving an alternation between haploid generations, wherein only one copy of each chromosome is present, and diploid generations, wherein two are present, occurring through nuclear fusion (syngamy) and meiosis.”
“The origin of the eukaryotic cell was a milestone in the evolution of life, since they include all complex cells and almost all multi-cellular organisms. The timing of this series of events is hard to determine; Knoll (2006) suggests they developed approximately 1.6 – 2.1 billion years ago. Some acritarchs are known from at least 1650 million years ago, and the possible alga Grypania has been found as far back as 2100 million years ago. [2] Fossils that are clearly related to modern groups start appearing around 1.2 billion years ago, ...” That should give you enough to search.

Also you can ask any 20 year old. They’ll all tell you they were the first to have sex.

@Ivan and everyone else. Bacteria do have sex, although it is called conjugation in bacteria. In fact, this has been known for more than 60 years, and was discovered by Joshua Lederberg at the ripe old age of 21.

@shilolo that actually makes since. bacteria does duplicate somehow so they would have to have sex in order to keep the bacteria spreading

@Thizdude They don’t have to conjugate to replicate. In fact, they replicate just fine without conjugation. However, conjugation is a sexual mode of transferring genetic material from one bacteria to another.

@shilolo I was gonna include something about that in my first comment, but I guessed it would depend on the definition of sex. And I also figured that if someone asks if animals or humans procreated first, they either don’t support evolution or they are trolling.

So horizontal gene transfer may be seen as sex as well? I was wondering just now if sex was dependent on fertilization by specialized cells, or if it could be defined by gene transfer alone, no matter the method.

@shilolo

You’re right. I remember that now that you mention it. Good catch.

so how exactly would bacteria had been created then?

@Thizdude

That is a topic for a different discussion.

@Thizdude Yep. That would be gliding into a discussion about Abiogenesis. The origin of life.

@oratio It certainly depends on your definition of sex. In some cases, one bacterial cell expresses an appendage known as a pilus which contacts a neighboring cell facilitating the transfer of genetic material. In other cases, no cell-to-cell contact is required. However, if we are talking the mixing of two genomes to then generate an offspring, then bacteria don’t qualify.

@shilolo Ok. Thanks for the link. Very interesting.

<3 and lurve at Shilolo & Ivan

The first fossilized evidence of sexually reproducing organisms is from eukaryotes of the Stenian period, about 1 to 1.2 billion years ago.

And there you have it.

@shilolo Thanks for reinforcing that EVERYONE including bacteria is having sex but me.

@chyna haha im sure that your not the only one. im sure there are plenty others out there..

ahem

@syz wow thats a really long time ago..

I have never been called plenty before

@oratio sorry, I didnt mean it that way. I ment that im sure there are more people than just @chyna that are not having sex

@Thizdude =) That comment meant “I don’t have sex either.”

@oratio ohh.. ha i guess i wasnt paying too much attention. But thats not necessarily a bad thing that you don’t. I know a few of my friends said that they never would untill they got married or untill they were with someone for a very long time. I have respect for people like that though because its good to see people standing up for what they believe in.

@Thizdude Quit while you are behind. I’m 50.

@Thizdude – Welcome to Fluther! If this question is an allusion to religion rather than biology, please realize that Fluther is not the minor leagues. Go ahead and be blunt.

@oratio – “horizontal gene transfer” – that’s my new favorite term.

@fireside

lol. I never realized how provocative that phrase was until now.

It’s a little known fact and a well-kept secret, but a man named Abdul and a woman named Fenestra were the first to have sex. The event occured on the 11th of April, in 1895.

True fact.

@fireside lol

I was the first to have sex, I’m older than the rest of you. We were just talking about fluther, right?

So how is it if i was 1st to post a semi proper response i dont get any great answer marks ? Even tho i was vague because i was not properly sure but managed to get a handle on it .

If you never had sex with me. You never had sex. Everything else is just an imitation.
This is only directed to the ladies. :-)

@sandystrachan – speaking for myself, by the time I saw your original answer, it had been “removed by moderators”, so I couldn’t lurve you for it.

I don’t know if invertebrates can have sex, but currently the oldest known vertebrate to have sex is a fish that was having sex as long as 380 million years ago.