Dung midden
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Dung middens, also known as dung hills, are piles of dung that mammals periodically return to and build up. They are used as a form of territorial marker. A range of animals are known to use them including steenbok, hyrax, and rhinoceros. Other animals are attracted to middens for a variety of purposes, including finding food and locating mates. Some species, such as the dung beetle genus Dicranocara of the Richtersveld in South western Africa spend their whole lifecycle in close association with dung middens. Dung middens are also used in the field of Paleobotany, which relies on the fact that each ecosystem is characterized by certain plants, which in turn act as a proxy for climate. Dung middens are useful as they often contain pollen which means fossilized dung middens can be used in Paleobotany to learn about past climates.
