In fact, they tend to repel rodents and other small mammals that approach them, and when the dung beetles detect one, they do the same thing with it as they would with a dung ball: they bury it. Over time, the seed will give rise to a new plant.
In a study published in the journal Nature Plants , a team of researchers from the University of Cape Town, coordinated by the expert in biological sciences Jeremy Midgley, highlights that this strategy could be considered a real hoax, since the beetles do not obtain any benefit in the process.
This kind of chemical thymus, used by plants to spread their seeds without the animals involved in the task getting something in return, is extremely rare, and according to Midgley and his collaborators, until now it has only been observed, and in a limited way, in some ants.
