Hitoshi Takano

DPhil candidate

  • email h.takano@nhm.ac.uk

Supervised by Owen Lewis and Allison Daley

Research Interests

My primary interests lie in the African fauna of the beetle family Scarabaeidae and in particular the subfamilies Cetoniinae and Scarabaeinae. For my research project, I will be undertaking a full systematic revision, including a phylogeny, of the Afrotropical species of the dung beetle genus Catharsius Hope, 1837. These dung beetles provide an important ecosystem service through burying large quantities of herbivore dung and are an excellent indicator of habitat quality. Though mainly coprophagous in habit, some have evolved necrophagic tastes. I am hoping this will become an important identification tool for ecologists and conservation biologists working in Africa