A group of researchers found an amber fossil, more than 99 million years old, inside which was a prehistoric species known as “ant from hell”, which was characterized by the lethality with which it attacked its prey.
According to the scientists, and after carrying out the pertinent study of the finding, the ancestors of the insect they had a deadly weapon instead of modern pincers: vertical jaws that they used to hold prey against a horn on the head to make it easier to hold their food.
The fossil was recovered in Myanmar, an Asian country, and dates back to the final era when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the Cretaceous period. The piece of amber shows the exact moment when a “ant from hell” (haidomirmecina) takes its victim, a now-extinct relative of the cockroach, known in Chile as cheap, (Caputoraptor elegans).
The discovery was published last Thursday, August 6 in the scientific journal Current Biology, reported CBS News.
Big #HellAnt news today @CurrentBiology: fossilized predation confirms hell ant mandibles functioned unlike any living species. We propose evolutionary integration analogous to the vertebrate skull provided access to new adaptive space in this wild lineage https://t.co/KqAjQZjNvs pic.twitter.com/uPfYaKXpvh
— Phil Barden (@Haidomyrmex) August 6, 2020
Priceless find
Phillip Barden, lead author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said in a press release that fossilized behavior such as that of “ants from hell” it is “extremely rare”.
“As paleontologists, we speculate on the role of ancient adaptations using the available evidence, but see an extinct predator caught in the act of capturing their prey is invaluable, “Barden said.
The scientist noted: “This fossilized predation confirms our hypothesis of how the mouthparts of the ants from hell functioned (…). The only way to capture the prey in such an arrangement is for the mouthparts of the ants to move towards up and down in a different direction than everyone else the ants alive and almost all insects “.
The first “ant from hell” It was discovered about 100 years ago, Barden added, and since then, “it has been a mystery” why they are so different from more modern ant species.
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