It’s one hell of an old ant. Researchers discovered a 113-million-year-old hell ant preserved in a chunk of Brazilian limestone. The find earned it the title of the oldest such specimen, according to a paper in the journal Current Biology.
The fossil is a member of Haidomyrmecinae — an extinct subfamily from the Cretaceous period. Those insects were armed with scythe-like jaws that researchers suspect the ant deployed to pin down or impale its prey.
“What makes this discovery particularly interesting is that it belongs to the extinct ‘hell ant,’ known for their bizarre predatory adaptations,” Anderson Lepeco of Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil, and an author of the paper, said in a press release. “Despite being part of an ancient lineage, this species already displayed highly specialized anatomical features, suggesting unique hunting behaviors.”
Ants Evolved Early, Travelled Often
Previous ants have been found in France and Burma, preserved in amber instead of limestone. Recently the oldest known dirt ant was found in the Dominican Republic, preserved in amber for 16 million years. The existence of a hell ant in Brazil shows that ants were already widely distributed and diversified early in their evolution.
“Even though there have been hell ants described from amber, this was the first time we could visualize this in a rock fossil,” said Lepeco.
The scientists found this particular specimen not in the field, but in a museum collection. Scientists were systematically analyzing the world’s largest collection of fossil insects from the Crato Formation in northeastern Brazil. That formation is known for its well-preserved fossils from the Early Cretaceous age and the collection is housed at the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo. The unusual ant instantly jumped out when the researchers came across it.
“When I encountered this extraordinary specimen, we immediately recognized its significance, not only as a new species but as potentially the definitive evidence of ants in the Crato Formation,” Lepeco said.
Read More: Ancient Amber Has Kept a Dirt Ant Frozen in Time For 16 Million Years
Similar Ant, Different Weapon
The scientists then examined the fossil with a 3D imaging technique to view the ant more closely. The scans revealed that the Brazilian specimen appeared closely related to more recent hell ant fossils from Burma. That lends credence to the authors’ hypotheses that hell ants were widely distributed, as well as great travelers.
But the differences, more so than the similarities between more recent hell ants and this specimen stood out. While modern ants wield jaws that move side to side, the newly found species brandished mandibles that extended past its head and scissored up and down.
“While we expected to find hell ant features, we were shocked by the characteristics of its feeding apparatus,” Lepeco said. “Finding such an anatomically specialized ant from 113 million years ago challenges our assumptions about how quickly these insects developed complex adaptations.”
Read More: An Ancient Ant Army Once Raided Europe 35 Million Years Ago
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
Current Biology. A hell ant from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil
Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
