Discoveries suggest that even ancient ants were social creatures. While modern ants live in intricate societies with cooperative parenting and specialized roles, their ancestors were solitary wasps. The exact timing of this shift to social living remains a mystery. Fossil evidence indicates that some early ants lived in groups during the Early Cretaceous Period, hinting at the beginnings of social behavior. However, it was unclear whether these early ants communicated chemically or simply shared living spaces.
Ryo Taniguchi, a paleontologist at Hokkaido University in Japan, and his team studied three fossilized ants from one of the oldest ant species, Gerontoformica gracilis. These well-preserved fossils, found in amber in northern Myanmar and now housed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, provided valuable insights. By focusing on the ants’ antennae, crucial for communication within colonies, the researchers were able to analyze the tiny sensory structures called sensilla. They used a specialized microscopy technique to examine multiple angles of the fossil antennae and compared them to those of modern ant species.
Date: 2024-06-14 13:00:00
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