ArticlePLoS genetics2018
Rhinoceros beetle horn development reveals deep parallels with dung beetles.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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29 citing papers in PubMed, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Transcriptomic and functional screening of weapon formation genes implies significance of cell adhesion molecules and female-biased genes in broad-horned flour beetle.PLoS genetics · 2023Article
- The draft genome sequence of the Japanese rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus septentrionalis towards an understanding of horn formation.Scientific reports · 2023Article
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- RNA Interference Method for Gene Function Analysis in the Japanese Rhinoceros BeetleBio-protocol · 2022Article
- Comparing head muscles among Drusinae clades (Insecta: Trichoptera) reveals high congruence despite strong contrasts in head shape.Scientific reports · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
19 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Beetle horns are attractive models for studying the evolution of novel traits, as they display diverse shapes, sizes, and numbers among closely related species within the family Scarabaeidae. Horns radiated prolifically and independently in two distant subfamilies of scarabs, the dung beetles (Scarabaeinae), and the rhinoceros beetles (Dynastinae). However, current knowledge of the mechanisms underlying horn diversification remains limited to a single genus of dung beetles, Onthophagus. Here we unveil 11 horn formation genes in a rhinoceros beetle, Trypoxylus dichotomus. These 11 genes are mostly categorized as larval head- and appendage-patterning genes that also are involved in Onthophagus horn formation, suggesting the same suite of genes was recruited in each lineage during horn evolution. Although our RNAi analyses reveal interesting differences in the functions of a few of these genes, the overwhelming conclusion is that both head and thoracic horns develop similarly in Trypoxylus and Onthophagus, originating in the same developmental regions and deploying similar portions of appendage patterning networks during their growth. Our findings highlight deep parallels in the development of rhinoceros and dung beetle horns, suggesting either that both horn types arose in the common ancestor of all scarabs, a surprising reconstruction of horn evolution that would mean the majority of scarab species (~35,000) actively repress horn growth, or that parallel origins of these extravagant structures resulted from repeated co-option of the same underlying developmental processes.
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