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The oldest ant ever discovered found fossilized in Brazil
- docmechanic 1y ago'A 113-million-year-old hell ant that once lived in northeastern Brazil is now the oldest ant specimen known to science, finds a new report. The hell ant, which was preserved in limestone, is a member of Haidomyrmecinae -- an extinct subfamily that only lived during the Cretaceous period. These ants had highly specialized, scythe-like jaws that they likely used to pin or impale prey.'
- pmags 1y agoQuite nice preservation! The images in the original article are definitely worth checking out: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.03.023 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.03.023 Discover and Science news have some images if you can't access Current Biology directly: https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/113-million-year-old-hell-ant-fossil-breaks-age-record-for-such-insects https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/113-million-ye... https://www.science.org/content/article/oldest-ant-fossil-ever-found-reveals-history-hell-ants https://www.science.org/content/article/oldest-ant-fossil-ev...
- docmechanic 1y agoThank you! Yes, the images are impressive.
- Qem 1y agoNice find. I had no idea South America was a likely cradle for ants. Perhaps that explains why the anteater evolved in South America as well. If there's a lot of individuals from a given species in some area, something is likely to evolve to eat them. Obligatory XKCD: https://what-if.xkcd.com/123/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/123/