The oldest ant fossil

He is 113 million years old. He lived in the Northeast of Brazil. And it is the fossil of the oldest ant that exists. The study is published by Current Biology.

It is called the ant of hell and is preserved in limestone. It belongs to the Haidomyrmecinae subfamily, an extinct subfamily that lived only during the Cretaceous. These ants had highly specialized jaws, similar to scythe. They used them to nail or empares their prey.

Other fossils

«Our team has discovered a new fossil species of ant. It is the oldest indisputable geological record of ants ». Author Anderson Lepeco declared it, of the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

«This species is known for its peculiar predatory adaptations. It already presented highly specialized anatomical characteristics, which suggests unique hunting behaviors ». This challenges our understanding of the evolution of ants. The oldest found themselves in France and Burma and were preserved in amber instead of limestone. This appeared in Brazil. It shows that ants were already widely distributed and diversified in the early stages of its evolution, says the team.

"It's the first time we could visualize this in a rock fossil," Lepeco said. It appeared in one of the largest fossil insect collections in the world of Crato formation, a site recognized for its exceptional fossil conservation. The collection is located in the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo.

Evolution

This species possessed jaws that extended forward parallel to the head and a facial projection before the eyes. The discovery of an anatomically so specialized anatomically 113 million years ago defies our assumptions about the speed with which these insects developed complex adaptations. His intricate morphology suggests that even these first ants had already developed sophisticated predatory strategies. They are significantly different from those of their modern counterparts.

The fossil of the oldest enhance planet raises broader questions. Especially, about the evolutionary pressures that led to the unique adaptations of the Hormal Horm, the researchers affirm. Thanks to the advanced imaging tools, it is now possible to examine these fossil specimens with much more detail than ever.