A new study conducted by the University of Nebraska has discovered a new super-brute of the animal kingdom.
Dung beetles fall into three categories; rollers, tunnellers and dwellers. Rollers roll dung, the fresher the better, into balls for feeding on or for a brooding chamber. Tunnellers bury dung and dwellers actually burrow into dung and live within it. Dung beetles can roll up to 10 times their own weight, with the male Onthophagus taurus beetles able to pull 1,141 times their own body weight. They play an important roll in agriculture, recycling manure and improving soil structure.
However a new study by the University of Nebraska has found a colony of dung beetles in the Kalahari, in Botswana, where female Leophagus ripal dung beetles are capable of rolling dung balls up to 13 times their own weight, taking them into the record books. 
They discovered that the female beetles had particularly long hind legs when compared to other beetles in the Scarabaeoidea family, giving them enhanced control of the dung ball, although numerous falls were logged. Dung beetles characteristically battle over fresh dung and this was a significant factor in this colony in the Kalahari with numerous conflicts being observed.
However, the study concludes that successful females go on to lay on average 8% more eggs in their super sized brood balls.
