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Ancient Ant Discovered

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 September 2008, 16:05 CDT

Biologists from Germany’s Karlsruhe's Natural History Museum have discovered a new ant species that dates back nearly 120 million years.

The researchers found the blind, subterranean, predatory insects in the Amazon rainforest in 2007, and believe it is the oldest ant species still inhabiting the earth. They hope the 3-millimeter-long insect will shed light on the early evolution of ants.

"It's by far the most spectacular find of my 26-year career," Manfred Verhaagh , a biologist at the museum, said on Tuesday.

The last discovery of a new ant species was in 1923, he said.

Another team from the museum’s research arm had initially stumbled upon the tiny ant while investigating fungus in the forest.  They named their new discovery “Martialis eureka“,  which translates roughly to "ant from Mars" because the ant has a combination of characteristics never before recorded.  

The Martialis heureka are pale, adapted for dwelling in the soil and have no eyes and large mandibles, which scientists suspect it used to capture prey. Verhaagh said they resemble miniature wasps, and are like no other ant.

The researchers used DNA samples collected from the ant’s front leg to determine its likely age, dating it back to roughly 120 million years.

In 2003, researchers from Karlsruhe had initially discovered a similar unidentified species of ant in the Brazilian rainforest.  But a laboratory accident caused the insect to dry up, making further research impossible.

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Image Caption: This new species of blind, subterranean, predatory ant, Martialis heureka, was discovered in the Amazon by Christian Rabeling at the University of Texas at Austin. It belongs to the first new subfamily of living ants discovered since 1923, and is a descendant of one of the first ant lineages to evolve over 120 million years ago. Credit: Christian Rabeling, the University of Texas at Austin

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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