The Healthiest Beetles Grow the Biggest Horns

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Exaggerated features such as beetle horns, deer antlers, and long tails in birds are all indications of a male’s breeding status within his society—but until recently, how these sexually selected traits have evolved has remained a mystery. In this video, Douglas Emlen describes his research investigating the evolutionary processes at work in the amply-horned Japanese rhinoceros beetle—and reports that the difference between a big horn and a small horn may come down to nutrition and fitness. Watch the video.