The research team found fossils of this ant species in a limestone block in what is now northeastern Brazil, living about 113 million years ago during the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago), according to ScienceAlert on April 25.
This is a newly discovered species, scientifically named Vulcanidris cratensis. The team that discovered this ant fossil is a member of the extinct subfamily Haidomyrmecinae, commonly known as “hell ants” because of their scythe-like lower jaws used to stab and pin their prey.
“Our team has discovered a new ant fossil that represents the earliest geological record of ants. The discovery is particularly exciting because it belongs to the extinct ‘hell ant’, known for its extraordinary adaptations to hunting,” said entomologist Anderson Lepeco, of the Zoological Museum of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Ants are among the most abundant and diverse animals on Earth today, with over 13,800 known species out of an estimated total of 22,000. However, none of the ant species resemble the “hell ant” subfamily.
The “hell ant” had a strange head and jaw structure as its jaws could move up and down, instead of opening horizontally like modern ants.
Scientists have previously discovered a few species of “hell ants” in amber fossils from Myanmar, France, and Canada, dating back about 80 million to 100 million years. However, the fossils of the ant species Vulcanidris cratensis were well preserved in the Crato Formation Lagerstatte – a fossil bed that preserves specimens down to a fine level of detail.
The team used CT scans to study the new ant species. They found that it is most closely related to the “hell ant” Aquilomyrmex huangi, which lived 99 million years ago and was found in amber in Myanmar.
Scientists believe that ants first appeared sometime between the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods. The discovery of “hell ants” in another part of the world, much earlier than other species and with a clear anatomy, provides researchers with a new approach to understanding the evolution of this diverse and widespread insect.
The study was published in the journal Current Biology.