Somewhere near you, an animal is defecating.

Somewhere near you, an animal is defecating. In fact, each day, the animal kingdom produces roughly enough dung to match the volume of water pouring over the Victoria Falls. So why isn’t the planet covered in the stuff? You can thank the humble dung beetle for eating up the excess. Capable of burying 250 times their body weight in a single night, these valiant insects make quick work of an endless stream of feces. Over 7,000 known species of dung beetle run clean-up duty across six continents —everywhere except Antarctica.