Date: May 4, 2016
Source: Cleveland Museum of
Natural History
Researchers have found an
evolutionary connection between dinosaurs and dung beetles. An international
team of scientists uncovered the first molecular evidence indicating that dung
beetles evolved in association with dinosaurs. The findings place the origin of
dung beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) in the Lower Cretaceous period, with
the first major diversification occurring in the middle of the Cretaceous. This
timeline places their origins approximately 30 million years earlier than
previously thought. The research explores the potential of a co-extinction with
dinosaurs 66 million years ago. The study was published today in the open-access
journal PLOS ONE.
Lead author Dr. Nicole Gunter of
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History generated molecular (DNA) sequence data
from 125 scarab beetles at the Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO,
which were aligned with previously published data to create a total dataset
representing 450 beetle species. The data were used to create a dated molecular
phylogeny of scarab beetles. Analyses compared timing and evolutionary
relationships of herbivorous scarab subfamilies that feed directly on living
plant tissue to saprophagous scarab subfamilies that feed on dead and decaying
matter--including dung.
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