Re: Did Dung Beetles Kill The Mushroom?

Damien Broderick (damien@ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au)
Fri, 25 Jul 1997 11:55:42 +0000


At 09:31 PM 7/24/97 -0400, Dan C. wrote:

>As I recall, there were no dung beetles in Australia.
>When the settlers introduced cattle the dung piles began to kill the
>grass.
>I forgot the outcome, but I think the settlers ended up importing them

This is pretty hard to swallow (as it were). There are scarabs everywhere.
*Macrocopris symbioticus*, according to the E.B., `lives in the anus of
the wallaby'. *That's* specialisation for you - it reminds me strongly of
certain academics I've known - and not the kind of thing that evolves in
200 years...

Damien Broderick