Did dinosaurs have any relation with dung‐beetles? (The origin of coprophagy)

@article{Arillo2008DidDH,
  title={Did dinosaurs have any relation with dung‐beetles? (The origin of coprophagy)},
  author={Antonio Arillo and Vicente M Ortu{\~n}o},
  journal={Journal of Natural History},
  year={2008},
  volume={42},
  pages={1405 - 1408}
}
  • A. Arillo, V. Ortuño
  • Published 1 May 2008
  • Environmental Science, Geography
  • Journal of Natural History
It is widely accepted that Mesozoic ecosystems were basically similar to Cenozoic ecosystems and it has been proposed that the role of dung‐beetles in those ecosystems was identical to that of today, but the dung of dinosaurs were used as a source of food instead of the dung of mammals. While dinosaurs have been known since Triassic, Scarabeids are present in the fossil records probably since Lower Jurassic. But a very important metabolic feature of dinosaurs has not been taken into account… 
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If Dung Beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) Arose in Association with Dinosaurs, Did They Also Suffer a Mass Co-Extinction at the K-Pg Boundary?
TLDR
Molecular evidence is presented to show that the origin of dung beetles occurred in the middle of the Cretaceous, likely in association with dinosaur dung, but more surprisingly the timing is consistent with the rise of the angiosperms.
Cockroaches Probably Cleaned Up after Dinosaurs
TLDR
Smaller particles were broken down biochemically in the cockroach hind gut, which indicates that the recent lignin-decomposing termite and cockroach endosymbionts might have been transferred to the cockroaches' gut upon feeding on dinosaur feces.
Trace Fossils of Dung Beetles
  • J. Genise
  • Environmental Science, Geography
  • 2017
The ichnogenera Coprinisphaera, Quirogaichnus, Eatonichnus, Chubutolithes, Pallichnus, Scaphichnium and other meniscate burrows attributed to dung beetles are reviewed. Coprinisphaera is one of the…
Generalist dung attraction response in a New Zealand dung beetle that evolved with an absence of mammalian herbivores
TLDR
New Zealand dung beetles are unusual as they are flightless and evolved on islands with a highly depauperate mammal fauna and thus without the usual dung resource used by dung beetle elsewhere.
The evolution of scarab beetles tracks the sequential rise of angiosperms and mammals
TLDR
The clear time lag between the origins of herbivores and coprophages suggests an evolutionary path driven by the angiosperms that first favoured the herbivore fauna (mammals and insects) followed by the secondary radiation of the dung feeders.
Biogeographical and co-evolutionary origins of scarabaeine dung beetles : Mesozoic vicariance versus Cenozoic dispersal and dinosaur versus mammal dung
TLDR
Although clock-constrained, phylogram topography is consistent with early Cenozoic palaeoclimatic and palaeoecological events, Eocene marine barriers would demand dispersal to explain the distributional origins of Scarabaeinae.
Diverse evidence for grasslands since the Eocene in Patagonia
Hybosorus ocampoi: the first hybosorid from the Cretaceous Myanmar amber (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea)
TLDR
This finding provides solid evidence to prove the very old origin of the genus Hybosorus which is the type genus of Hybosoridae and supports the hypothesis of Mesozoic origin of most families in Scarabaeoidea.
HISTORICAL, BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AND ECOLOGICAL FACTORS EXPLAIN THE SUCCESS OF SOME NATIVE DUNG BEETLES AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF CATTLE IN MEXICO
TLDR
In an anthropized landscape such as Mexico, it must focus not only on the conservation of the dung beetles that inhabit the authors' temperate and tropical forests, but also on the species found in man-made pastures, both of which provide valuable ecosystem services such as incorporating dung into the soil nutrient cycle.
Lobateuchus, un nouveau genre de «bousier» fossile du nord de la France (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae)
TLDR
La découverte de ce fossile remet en question la répartition strictement gondwanienne de la tribu des Ateuchini de la Répartition de l’Eocène basal del’Oise (Bassin parisien) est décrit.
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