For a relatively small group of insects, dung beetles have attracted an inordinate amount of scientific interest over the years. This current work synthesises and updates most of the major elements covered in those studies, but introduces several novel sections in a phylogenetic approach to the natural history of dung beetles. The aspects covered, in five sections, are evolution and ecological success of dung beetles, physiological and behavioural ecology, phylogeny of the Scarabaeinae, historical biogeography of the Scarabaeinae and its physical and biotic drivers, and conservation.