Combined Effects of Beetle Density and Sex Ratio on Reproductive Trade‐Offs and Dung Burial in Tunnelling Dung Beetles
Zinat Jahan Chowdhury, Zac Hemmings, Alfonsina Arriaga‐Jimenez, Karl Vernes, Timothy M. Schaerf, Nigel R. Andrew · 2026
Read Combined Effects of Beetle Density and Sex Ratio on Reproductive Trade‐Offs and Dung Burial in Tunnelling Dung Beetles by Zinat Jahan Chowdhury, Zac Hemmings, Alfonsina Arriaga‐Jimenez, Karl Vernes, Timothy M. Schaerf, Nigel R. Andrew (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13674177.txt.
Description
Zinat Jahan Chowdhury and five co-authors studied how crowding shapes dung beetle breeding in a 2026 paper. These beetles bury dung and raise their young in balls of it below ground. The team varied how many males and females shared one dung pat for two species, then tracked burial and brood output each week.
Groups with a mid level mix of sexes made more broods than lone beetles. Mid to large groups also buried more dung than a lone female. But as crowding rose, each brood shrank and weighed less, a sign the beetles shifted effort under strain. One species made more broods, while the other buried more dung.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Zinat Jahan Chowdhury, Zac Hemmings, Alfonsina Arriaga‐Jimenez, Karl Vernes, Timothy M. Schaerf, Nigel R. Andrew |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 50 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |