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The Dung Beetle’s Navigation Skill

Two dung beetles rolling a ball of dung

But how does the dung beetle keep from going in circles, especially at night?
Previous studies have shown that dung beetles can navigate by the light of either the sun or the moon, yet they can also hold to a straight line even on clear moonless nights. Researchers in South Africa discovered that the beetles do this, not by seeing individual stars, but by using the band of light produced by the Milky Way galaxy. According to the journal Current Biology, this is “the first documented use of the Milky Way for orientation in the animal kingdom.”

Dung beetles, says researcher Marcus Byrne, have “an effective visual navigation system which can operate in the dimmest starlight, using limited computational power.” He adds: “They therefore have the potential to teach humans how to solve complex visual processing problems.” For example, a drone might be programmed to search a collapsed building by mimicking the dung beetle’s navigation system.

Did you know?
Dung beetles loosen and nourish the soil, spread plant seeds, and keep fly populations under control.

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