Dung beetles guided by the stars
Views of the Milky Way provide more than just ambiance for the fecal-foraging insect.
By Shaunacy Ferro Posted 01.25.2013 at 11:55 am
Celestial navigation has guided man around the world for several thousand years. A new study suggests it could also be guiding dung beetles.
Marie Dacke, a zoologist at Sweden's Lund University, studies the way animals navigate. In a study online this week in Current Biology, she and a team of researchers looked into the surprisingly sophisticated navigational habits of the dung beetle, finding that they too have their eyes on the skies.
Here's how it works: Dung beetles like to maintain straight lines as they run. As they're going about their beetle business, when a pile of droppings catches their eye, they roll it into a ball and, walking backward, push it somewhere safe to eat. A straight course ensures they don't return to the fierce competition back at the dung pile.
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http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2 ... gate-stars
