# Are there other animals like the dung beetles that use the milky way to navigate?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-other-animals-like-the-dung-beetles-that-use-the-milky-way-to-navigate/916210>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 24, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-other-animals-like-the-dung-beetles-that-use-the-milky-way-to-navigate/916210 "2020-07-24T12:54:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-other-animals-like-the-dung-beetles-that-use-the-milky-way-to-navigate/916210/1 "2020-07-24T12:54:44Z")

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Is navigation by Milky Way, limited to dung beetles ? Did other animals/species evolve to do so too ?

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**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-other-animals-like-the-dung-beetles-that-use-the-milky-way-to-navigate/916210/2 "2020-07-24T13:16:38Z")

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Apparently, yes. All the cool critters do it!

> **[From dung beetles to seals, these animals navigate by the stars](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/stars-milky-way-navigation-dung-beetles)**
>
> A small but diverse group of species relies on the night sky to guide their search for food and mates.

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**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-other-animals-like-the-dung-beetles-that-use-the-milky-way-to-navigate/916210/3 "2020-07-24T13:23:59Z")

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Thank you @Dung_Beetle for granting my wish. 🙂

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**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-other-animals-like-the-dung-beetles-that-use-the-milky-way-to-navigate/916210/4 "2020-07-24T13:37:43Z")

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Thank you @Dung_Beetle. That’s great.

I only see 4 or 5 living things there. It seems surprising that such an useful trait did not spread more during evolution.

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**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-other-animals-like-the-dung-beetles-that-use-the-milky-way-to-navigate/916210/5 "2020-07-24T17:52:58Z")

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Well, beetles are not closely related to mammals, so it would need to have a very low chance of being independently selected for, or else throughout related species.

Other animals navigate using a diverse number of modalities. Some use electrical fields, particularly to detect prey, or [magnetic fields for navigation, like some salmonids](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170426153804.htm). [Bees and many more use the sun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_compass_in_animals).

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-other-animals-like-the-dung-beetles-that-use-the-milky-way-to-navigate/916210/6 "2020-07-24T17:55:01Z")

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Do crickets do that?  
\< sings \> When you poop under the stars… \< sings \>