Why isn't the world covered in poop? - Eleanor Slade and Paul Manning
Learn more by reading Douglas J. Emlen's "Animal Weapons": https://amzn.to/2I2SLSw View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-isn-t-the-world-covered-in-poop-eleanor-slade-and-paul-manning...
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Somewhere near you, an animal is defecating. In fact, each day, the animal kingdom produces roughly enough dung to match the volume of water pouring over the Victoria Falls. So why isn’t the planet covered in the stuff? You can thank the humble dung beetle for eating up the excess. Capable of burying 250 times their body weight in a single night, these valiant insects make quick work of an endless stream of feces. Over 7,000 known species of dung beetle run clean-up duty across six continents —everywhere except Antarctica. A dung beetle’s first task is to locate dung. Some live on the anal regions of larger animals, ready to leap off when they defecate. Others sniff out feces that animals leave behind. A pile of elephant dung can att...
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Somewhere near you, an animal is defecating. In fact, each day, the animal kingdom produces roughly enough dung to match the volume of water pouring over the Victoria Falls. So why isn’t the planet covered in the stuff? You can thank the humble dung beetle for eating up the excess. Capable of burying 250 times their body weight in a single night, these valiant insects make quick work of an endless stream of feces. Over 7,000 known species of dung beetle run clean-up duty across six continents —everywhere except Antarctica. A dung beetle’s first task is to locate dung. Some live on the anal regions of larger animals, ready to leap off when they defecate. Others sniff out feces that animals leave behind. A pile of elephant dung can att...
