Dung Beetles and Baobabs

It’s hard to imagine dung beetles could have much in common with Baobabs! Which is why we liked this article by Scott N Ramsay who says:”Dung beetles, it turns out, are important dispersal agents, collecting manure into a ball, laying their eggs inside, and rolling the ball into a hole in the ground where the larvae of the beetle can hatch. In the process, the seeds of grass and trees in the dung are also buried. I had never considered that an ancient, regal baobab tree could have originated from the breeding habits of a poo-loving beetle four thousand years ago. But there you have it – they’re connected in some way.”  Baobab seeds are relatively large,but it’s not an impossibility that that germinating Baobab seedlings could use the manure buried by dung beetles to boost the growth of its first few shoots…

 

 

 

 

Continue reading....

Find more interesting articles below

2018 April: The Little BIG BAOBAB Book spreads its wings

2018 April: The Little BIG BAOBAB Book spreads its wings

Inspired by her PhD research on baobab trees, Dr Sarah Venter wans to make the fascinating information usually available only in obscure scientific papers, available to a much broader audience including children. The Little BIG BAOBAB book is for everyone who loves baobab trees…

Read more
How fat are baobab trees?

How fat are baobab trees?

This week I did my annual trip to Skelmwater.  This is a baobab research plot situated near Musina long the N1.  Skelmwater was established in 1930 by the late Professor de Villiers of Stellenbosch University.  The aim was to measure the rate of growth of baobabs in their natural environment.   Despite the small number of […]

Read more
What’s in a name: Adansonia digitata

What’s in a name: Adansonia digitata

The latin name, Adansonia digitata, was given to the baobab by Carl Linneaus.  He named the baobab after the a French naturalist Michel Adanson.  Adanson was posted to Senegal in 1749 to research the natural resources of the area. He was blown away by his first sight of a baobab describing it as "a forest […]

Read more