By contrast, less-tasty tree types are more likely to reach the canopy. In addition, rhinos can crack open hard, large fruits, such as those of the deciduous Trewia tree, which cannot be pierced by weaker-jawed animals. They thereby release seeds that would otherwise rot without germinating. As a veritable fertilizer factory, each rhino produces up to about 60 pounds of dung daily. Defecation usually occurs at shared latrines that bear the contributions of many.
Individuals advertise their availability for mating through variations in their scents.
Such is the language of love for the olfactory-oriented rhino. Dinerstein's research indicates that communal dung piles benefit other creatures besides just their creators. For example, these heaps provide habitat for rodents and estivating amphibians, and may serve as incubators for turtle eggs. In addition, seedlings ingested by rhinos are fertilized by the dung in which they are eventually deposited. Rhino manure similarly nurtures seedlings that sprout from seeds dropped in the dung of birds that also frequent the latrines.