<p>Chinese scientists have discovered a new ant fossil in a 99-million-year-old piece of Burmese amber which sheds light on complex social behaviour and early evolution of the insects.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The bizarre-looking ant has a prominent cephalic horn and oversized, scythe-like mandibles that extend above its head.<br /><br />According to Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the fossil suggests that at least some of the earliest ants were solitary specialist predators.<br /><br />Ants experienced their early diversification within the Cretaceous period. The success of ants is generally attributed to their remarkable social behaviour.<br /><br />Recent studies have suggested that the early branching lineages of extant ants formed small colonies of subterranean or epigeic, solitary specialist predators.<br /><br />Although it is difficult to draw clear conclusions about their ecology, recent discoveries from the Cretaceous suggest relatively advanced social levels, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.<br /><br />Remarkable exceptions to this pattern are ants with bizarre mouthparts in which both female castes have modified heads and blade-like mandibles, which move uniquely in a horizontal rather than vertical plane.<br /><br />The new fossil reveals a proficiency for large-bodied carriage and highlights a more complex and diversified suite of ecological traits for the earliest ants, researchers said.<br /><br />Together with other Cretaceous haidomyrmecine ants, the new fossil suggests that at least some of the earliest Formicidae were solitary specialist predators.<br /><br />Questions over the specific ecology of haidomyrmecines have puzzled evolutionary biologists for many years, as their mandibles appear to act as traps triggered by sensory hairs in a way distinct from that of modern trap-jaw ants.<br /><br />Models of early ant evolution predict that the first ants were solitary specialist predators, but discoveries of Cretaceous fossils suggest group recruitment and socially advanced behaviour among stem-group ants.<br /><br />Wang Bo from the Nanjing institute and his colleagues said the structures of the new ant presumably functioned as a highly-specialised trap for larger prey.<br /><br />The horn results from an extreme modification of the clypeus hitherto unseen among living and extinct ants, which demonstrates the presence of exaggerated trap-jaw morphogenesis early among stem-group ants.</p>
<p>Chinese scientists have discovered a new ant fossil in a 99-million-year-old piece of Burmese amber which sheds light on complex social behaviour and early evolution of the insects.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The bizarre-looking ant has a prominent cephalic horn and oversized, scythe-like mandibles that extend above its head.<br /><br />According to Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the fossil suggests that at least some of the earliest ants were solitary specialist predators.<br /><br />Ants experienced their early diversification within the Cretaceous period. The success of ants is generally attributed to their remarkable social behaviour.<br /><br />Recent studies have suggested that the early branching lineages of extant ants formed small colonies of subterranean or epigeic, solitary specialist predators.<br /><br />Although it is difficult to draw clear conclusions about their ecology, recent discoveries from the Cretaceous suggest relatively advanced social levels, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.<br /><br />Remarkable exceptions to this pattern are ants with bizarre mouthparts in which both female castes have modified heads and blade-like mandibles, which move uniquely in a horizontal rather than vertical plane.<br /><br />The new fossil reveals a proficiency for large-bodied carriage and highlights a more complex and diversified suite of ecological traits for the earliest ants, researchers said.<br /><br />Together with other Cretaceous haidomyrmecine ants, the new fossil suggests that at least some of the earliest Formicidae were solitary specialist predators.<br /><br />Questions over the specific ecology of haidomyrmecines have puzzled evolutionary biologists for many years, as their mandibles appear to act as traps triggered by sensory hairs in a way distinct from that of modern trap-jaw ants.<br /><br />Models of early ant evolution predict that the first ants were solitary specialist predators, but discoveries of Cretaceous fossils suggest group recruitment and socially advanced behaviour among stem-group ants.<br /><br />Wang Bo from the Nanjing institute and his colleagues said the structures of the new ant presumably functioned as a highly-specialised trap for larger prey.<br /><br />The horn results from an extreme modification of the clypeus hitherto unseen among living and extinct ants, which demonstrates the presence of exaggerated trap-jaw morphogenesis early among stem-group ants.</p>