SINGAPORE – While people are turned away by the smell of poop, a certain species of beetle thinks the world of mammal faeces, since they are essential for its nutrition and reproduction. Read more at straitstimes.com.
SINGAPORE – While people are turned away by the smell of poop, a certain species of beetle thinks the world of mammal faeces, since they are essential for its nutrition and reproduction.
PhD student Ong Xin Rui, who is leading the research effort with undergrad Samuel Cheong, told The Straits Times that little is known about the dung beetles of Singapore – how many species live here, what is their natural history and where on the island they can be found. “In South-east Asia’s tropical forests, human impact, such as the conversion of forests to agricultural ecosystems, have affected mammal populations, which in turn would affect the diversity and abundance of dung beetle populations due to changes in available mammal dung resources,” she added.
DNA tests will be conducted on the dung beetles captured to identify their species, as well as trace the DNA of animals in the forest based on dung consumed by these beetles, said Dr Eleanor Slade, who is an assistant professor at NTU’s Asian School of the Environment. Both species are not commonly found in areas beyond undisturbed forest habitats, and their presence is often indicative of healthy mammal populations and good forests, said Dr Slade.
In the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list, only 8 per cent of around 150,000 assessed species are insects, with fewer than 800 of all assessed species being dung beetles.
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