How the Rhinoceros Beetle Got Its Horns

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer

Sporting a horn on your head two-thirds the length of your body might seem like a drag. For the rhinoceros beetle, though, massive head-weapons are no big deal.

Turns out, pitchfork-shaped protrusions on the heads of rhinoceros beetles don't slow them down during flight, new research shows. The findings may explain why the beetles' horns are so diverse and elaborate, said study researcher Erin McCullough, a doctoral student at the University of Montana.

"Because the horns don't impair the beetles' ability to fly, they might be unconstrained by natural selection," McCullough told LiveScience, referring to the evolutionary process that weeds out weak traits while passing on advantageous ones.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/27851-rhinoceros-beetle-horn-evolution.html

Demand for Horn Fuels Record-High Rhino Poaching

A rhino poaching crisis in South Africa is fed by an insatiable demand in Vietnam for the large animals' horns, which are believed to promote health, cure hangovers and even cancer, according to a new report.

In South Africa, more and more rhinos are being killed illegally. In 2007, 13 rhinos were poached, this number rose steadily to a record 448 in 2011. In early 2012, rhinos were being poached at a rate of almost two rhinos per day, and officials expect the total loss to stand at 515 by the end of this year if the rate continues, according to TRAFFIC, a nongovernmental global network that monitors wildlife trade, which issued the report.

Arrests are rising too, but organized crime is involved, TRAFFIC reports. The crime syndicates involved in rhino poaching are also linked to drug and diamond smuggling, as well as human trafficking and the illegal trade in other wildlife parts, such as elephant ivory, the report says.

Read on:  http://www.livescience.com/22667-rhino-horn-poaching-report.html