Oldest ant fossil discovered in Brazil, reveals 'extraordinary' insights about the species

According to new research, an insect fossil in a Brazilian museum collection has revealed the oldest ant specimen known to science. The prehistoric ant, which lived alongside dinosaurs 113 million years ago, seems to have unique mandibles which suggests that they had an unusual way to kill its prey.

While examining a fossil collection housed at the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo, which houses one of the largest collections of fossilized insects and contains specimens from northeastern Brazil, Anderson Lepeco came across the extraordinary fossil.

The limestone fossil belongs to an ant which has been identified as a hell ant, a member of a subfamily called Haidomyrmecinae that lived during the Cretaceous period between 66 million and 45 million years ago and is not related to any ant alive today, according to a study by the current biology journal. 

One of the unique characteristics of the species is the presence of vertical, scythe-like jaws which were used to impale and grab prey. Lepeco, the lead author of the study stated “I was just shocked to see that weird projection in front of this (insect’s) head, Other hell ants have been described with odd mandibles, but always as amber specimens.” 

Phil Barden, an associate professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology who studies the evolutionary history of insects, called this discovery “a pretty big deal” and added, “This new find now represents the oldest ant known, it extends the known fossil record for ants by about ten million years.”

Furthermore, the presence of the species in Brazil points to the fact that ants were already widely distributed across the planet at an early point in their evolution. The ants were previously discovered in amber samples Myanmar, according to a report by CNN.

The research also sheds light on how ants evolved during the early Cretaceous period, which was a time of drastic change in many species. It also provides an insight into ant species which did not survive the mass extinction that ended the dinosaur era and had several unique features that are no longer observed in the modern species of ants.

In the modern era, ants are one of the most abundant insect species found on Earth with their habitats spanning across all continents except Antarctica. 

Despite this, the prehistoric species of ant is significantly different to its modern counterparts, showing traits commonly seen in wasps, an indication of the common ancestry between the two creatures. The scythe-like jaws that ran parallel to its head and projected forward from near the eyes of the hell ants are also a unique feature no longer found in any ant species, indicating specialised predatory techniques.