Beetle horn presence depends on post-arrival behavior, not the dung itself
Evidence
Armed with this insight, we can return to the problem of horned and hornless dung beetles. Why do some species produce horns while others feeding on the same resources in the same habitats do not? The answer, I have come to suspect, has nothing to do with the dung and everything to do with what these animals do after they arrive at the dung. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 218
Categorization
- XREF: Directly extends the economic-defensibility logic of paragraph 203 into the dung beetle system — the payoff lies in what follows arrival, a preview of the roller vs tunneler distinction. — connects to: Tunneling behavior predicts horn evolution in dung beetles — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 713; Dung beetle horns evolved and were lost repeatedly across their history; No ball-rolling dung beetle species has evolved horns despite constant fighting (+1 more)
Related
- No ball-rolling dung beetle species has evolved horns despite constant fighting (similarity 0.91)
- Dung beetle horns evolved and were lost repeatedly across their history (similarity 0.91)
- Tunneling behavior predicts horn evolution in dung beetles (similarity 0.89)
- Tunneling dung beetles guard burrow entrances and evolve horns; rollers do not (similarity 0.87)
- Closely related beetle species can differ sharply in horn possession (similarity 0.81)
- Smaller-horned males usually lose escalated dung beetle fights (similarity 0.81)