Latest news with #AndersonLepeco
Yomiuri Shimbun
16-05-2025
- Science
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Oldest-known Ant Fossil Found in Brazil Preserved in Limestone
Anderson Lepeco / Current Biology / Handout via Reuters A 113-million-year-old fossilized ant preserved in limestone unearthed in northeastern Brazil is seen in this photo released on April 24. Scientists have identified the fossilized remains of the oldest-known ant — a winged insect with fearsome scythe-like jaws that lived about 113 million years ago during the age of dinosaurs and was preserved in limestone unearthed in northeastern Brazil. The species, called Vulcanidris cratensis, is part of a lineage called hell ants — named for their demonic-looking jaws — that prospered in a wide geographical range during the Cretaceous Period but have no descendants alive today. A previously discovered Cretaceous hell ant was named Haidomyrmex in honor of Hades, the ancient Greek god of the underworld. A medium-sized ant about 1.35 centimeters long, Vulcanidris possessed highly specialized jaws that would have enabled it to pin down or impale prey. Like some ants alive today, it had wings and appears to have been a capable flier. It also had a well-developed stinger like a wasp. 'It would probably be confused with a wasp by an untrained eye,' said entomologist Anderson Lepeco of the Museum of Zoology of the University of Sao Paulo, lead author of the study published last month in the journal Current Biology. 'They probably used their mandibles (mouthparts) to handle their prey in a specific way,' Lepeco said. Its mandibles moved up and down and not side to side, as they do in today's ants. 'Currently, many odd mandible shapes can be found in ants, but they usually articulate horizontally,' Lepeco said. This ant is roughly 13 million years older than the previous oldest-known ants, specimens found in France and Myanmar that were preserved in amber, which is fossilized tree sap. The Vulcanidris anatomy is remarkably well preserved in the limestone, which was excavated decades ago in the Crato geological formation in the Brazilian state of Ceara, probably in the 1980s or 1990s, according to Lepeco. It was held in a private collection before being donated to the Sao Paulo museum about five years ago. 'I was looking for wasps among the fossils of the collection and was shocked when I recognized this one as a close relative of a hell ant previously described from Burmese amber,' Lepeco said, referring to the fossil from Myanmar. The specialized nature of the Vulcanidris anatomy and the fact that two hell ants lived so far from each other during this part of the Cretaceous suggest that ants as a group emerged many millions of years before this newly identified species existed. 'According to molecular estimates, ants originated between 168 million and 120 million years ago. This new finding supports an earlier age within these limits,' Lepeco said. Ants are believed to have evolved from a form of wasp. Their closest living relatives are wasps and bees. Vulcanidris inhabited an ecosystem teeming with life. Fossils from the region show that Vulcanidris lived alongside other insects, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, various crustaceans, turtles, crocodilians, flying reptiles called pterosaurs, birds and dinosaurs including the feathered meat-eater Ubirajara. The ant's predators may have included frogs, birds, spiders and larger insects. Ants have colonized almost everywhere on Earth, and research published in 2022 estimated that their total population is 20 quadrillion globally. That dwarfs the human population of about 8 billion. 'They are one of the most abundant groups in most environments on Earth,' Lepeco said. 'They play many roles where they occur, such as predation and herbivory, controlling populations of other organisms. They also have intrinsic relationships with specific plants and insects, protecting them from other animals. Subterranean and litter ants help in soil health, and they may also act as decomposers, feeding on dead organisms,' Lepeco said.
The Hindu
26-04-2025
- Science
- The Hindu
Which is the oldest ant ever discovered?
A hell ant species that lived 113 million years ago in northeastern Brazil was recently discovered. The hell ant, which was preserved as a rock impression in limestone, is a member of Haidomyrmecinae, an extinct subfamily that only lived during the Cretaceous period. These ants had highly specialised, scythe-like jaws that they likely used to pin or impale prey. The previous oldest ants were found in France and Burma and were preserved in amber instead of limestone. The existence of a hell ant in Brazil shows that ants were already widely distributed and diversified early in their evolution. The ants must have crossed Cretaceous landmasses repeatedly, researchers say. These ants had specialised features. Unlike modern ants with laterally moving mandibles, this species possessed mandibles that ran forward parallel to the head and facial projection anterior to the eyes. The intricate morphology suggests that even these earliest ants had already evolved sophisticated predatory strategies. While the ant species provides the most complete evidence for the early evolution of ants in the fossil record, the specialised feature also raises broader questions about the evolutionary pressures that led to the hell ant's unique adaptations. A 113-million-year-old hell ant that once lived in northeastern Brazil is now the oldest ant specimen known to science, finds a report published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on April 24. 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 specialised, scythe-like jaws that they likely used to pin or impale prey. 'Our team has discovered a new fossil ant species representing the earliest undisputable geological record of ants,' said author Anderson Lepeco of Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil. 'What makes this discovery particularly interesting is that it belongs to the extinct 'hell ant,' known for their bizarre predatory adaptations. Despite being part of an ancient lineage, this species already displayed highly specialised anatomical features, suggesting unique hunting behaviours.' The ant fossil's discovery challenges our understanding of ant evolution and biogeography through time, according to the researchers. The previous oldest ants were found in France and Burma and were preserved in amber instead of limestone. The existence of a hell ant in Brazil shows that ants were already widely distributed and diversified early in their evolution, says the team. 'Even though there have been hell ants described from amber, this was the first time we could visualise this in a rock fossil,' said Lepeco. Lepeco and his team discovered the 'remarkably well-preserved' ant specimen while systematically examining one of the world's largest collections of fossil insects from the Crato Formation, a deposit renowned for its exceptional fossil preservation. The collection is housed at the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo. 'When I encountered this extraordinary specimen, we immediately recognised its significance, not only as a new species but as potentially the definitive evidence of ants in the Crato Formation,' said Lepeco. 'This finding highlights the importance of thorough examination of existing collections -- private or in museums -- and brings a spotlight to Brazilian paleontology and the underexplored fossil insect fauna of the country.' Micro-computed tomography imaging -- a 3D imaging technique that uses X-rays to view the inside of an object, or ant in this case -- showed that the newly discovered ant was closely related to hell ants previously known only from specimens preserved in Burmese amber -- a type of amber found in Myanmar. The finding shows that the ants were widely distributed across the globe and must have crossed Cretaceous landmasses repeatedly, say the authors. But what astonished them most was the hell ant's specialised features. 'While we expected to find hell ant features, we were shocked by the characteristics of its feeding apparatus,' said Lepeco. Unlike modern ants with laterally moving mandibles, this species possessed mandibles that ran forward parallel to the head and facial projection anterior to the eyes, the researchers noted. 'Finding such an anatomically specialised ant from 113 million years ago challenges our assumptions about how quickly these insects developed complex adaptations. The intricate morphology suggests that even these earliest ants had already evolved sophisticated predatory strategies significantly different from their modern counterparts.' The discovery of this new ant specimen raises broader questions about the evolutionary pressures that led to the hell ant's unique adaptations, say the researchers. With advanced imaging tools, it's now possible to examine such fossil specimens in much greater detail than ever before.
Ammon
26-04-2025
- Science
- Ammon
‘Extraordinary' fossil reveals the oldest ant species known to science
Ammon News - An almost overlooked fossil discovered in a Brazilian museum collection has revealed the oldest ant specimen known to science, according to new prehistoric ant lived among dinosaurs 113 million years ago — several millennia before previously found ants — and had an unusual way to kill its prey. Anderson Lepeco, a researcher at the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo, said he came across the 'extraordinary' specimen in September 2024 while examining a fossil collection housed at the Museum of Zoology of the University of São museum has one of the world's largest collections of fossilized insects and contains specimens from northeastern Brazil's Crato Formation, a geological deposit renowned for its exceptional fossil in limestone, the newly described extinct insect is what's known 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 published Thursday in the journal Current Biology. The fossil species, which has been named Vulcanidris cratensis, had scythe-like jaws that it likely used to pin or impale prey.'I was just shocked to see that weird projection in front of this (insect's) head,' Lepeco, the study's lead author, said. 'Other hell ants have been described with odd mandibles, but always as amber specimens.'It's rare to find insects preserved in rock. Other hell ants from the Cretaceous have been found entombed in amber from France and Myanmar but they date back to around 99 million years ago. That a hell ant lived before that in what's now Brazil means ants were already widely distributed across the planet at an early point in their evolution, the study authors noted. The discovery sheds light on how ants evolved during the early Cretaceous, a time of significant change. It also offers some insight into unusual features in ant species of this period that didn't survive the mass extinction that ended the dinosaur era, the researchers said. CNN
NDTV
26-04-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Fossil Of 113-Million-Year-Old 'Hell Ant' That Lived With Dinosaurs Discovered In Brazil
The fossil of a 113-million-year-old hell ant, believed to have lived among dinosaurs, has now become the oldest ant specimen known to science, according to a new study. The fossil was discovered in a collection at the Museum of Zoology of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, CNN reported. The hell ant, which had been preserved in limestone, has been described as a member of a subfamily -- Haidomyrmecinae. The study, published in Current Biology journal on Thursday, suggests the extinct subfamily survived during the Cretaceous period, around 66 million and 45 million years ago. Unrelated to any of the ant species alive today, they had their own unique way of killing its prey. Named Vulcanidris cratensis, these ants had scythe-like jaws, which they are believed to have used to pin or impale prey. Anderson Lepeco, a researcher at the Sao Paulo-based university's Museum of Zoology, witnessed the "extraordinary" specimen in September last year at the museum that houses one of the largest collections of fossilised insects around the world. It has specimens from the Crato Formation of northeastern Brazil. The lead author said he was "shocked" to see the "weird projection" in front of the hell ant's head, adding that others have been described with "odd mandibles, but always as amber specimens," CNN reported. Mr Lepeco and his team suggested other heel ants from the Cretaceous period date back to roughly 99 million years, but these were found preserved in amber and not limestone in France and Myanmar. The hell ant's existence in Brazil highlighted that they were already widely distributed on the Earth and diversified quite early in their evolution, the researchers added. The study claims that ants, found almost on all continents in today's time except for Antarctica, evolved around 145 million years ago during the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods. They went on to become the most common insect found in the fossil record after dinosaurs and other species got extinct around 66 million years ago following an asteroid strike, the research said. Phil Barden, an associate professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said the latest fossil was a "pretty big deal" as it further extends the fossil record for ants by "about ten million years". In his study, Mr Lepeco also discussed the wasp-like characteristics of the new species. With the help of micro-computed tomography imaging, it was found the species was related to the hell ants earlier known from Burmese amber fossils.
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Science
- Time of India
113-million-year-old ‘hell ant' is the oldest ever found, scientists say
Credit: X An overlooked fossil in a Brazilian museum has now been identified as the oldest known ant specimen, dating back 113 million years. This discovery has been published in the journal Current Biology. The fossil, named Vulcanidris Cratensis, was reportedly found in the Crato Formation of northeastern Brazil, a site which is well renowned for its well-preserved fossils. Anderson Lepeco, a researcher at the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo, stumbled upon the specimen in September 2024 while examining the museum's collection. "I was just shocked to see that weird projection in front of this (insect's) head," Lepeco told CNN. This ancient ant belongs to the extinct subfamily Haidomyrmecinae , commonly referred to as "hell ants." As per reports, these ants are characterized by their scythe-like jaws, which served as a way to impale a prey. Unlike the previous hell ant fossils found in Myanmar, this one was preserved in rock which made it a rare find. Credit: X/@Extinct_AnimaIs The discovery suggests that ants were already widespread during the early Cretaceous period. Phil Barden, an associate professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology who studies insect evolution, commented on the significance of the find. "This new find now represents the oldest ant known; it extends the known fossil record for ants by about ten million years," Barden said via email to CNN. Micro-computed tomography imaging revealed that Vulcanidris cratensis had anatomical features linking it to wasps, indicating a common ancestry. Its wings had more veins than those of modern ants, and its jaws projected forward from near the eyes, functioning like a "forklift" to capture prey, according to Lepeco. Credit: X/@Extinct_AnimaIs The fossil's preservation in rock, rather than amber, provides a unique opportunity to study the morphology of early ants. This discovery pushes the timeline of evolution of ant. In the modern world, ants are among the most abundant insects on Earth, found on every continent except Antarctica. However, they evolved approximately 145 million years ago, diverging from ancestors shared with wasps and bees. The discovery of Vulcanidris Cratensis sheds light on the early diversification of ants and their role during the age of dinosaurs. It emphasizes the importance of museum collections in uncovering significant paleontological findings.
