Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter to explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements, and more. An almost overlooked fossil discovered in a Brazilian museum collection has unveiled the oldest ant specimen known to science, according to new research. This prehistoric ant lived among dinosaurs approximately 113 million years ago — significantly earlier than previously found ant species — and exhibited a unique method for capturing its prey.
Anderson Lepeco, a researcher at the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo, stumbled upon this “extraordinary” specimen in September 2024 while examining a fossil collection within the museum. The Museum of Zoology houses one of the world’s largest collections of fossilized insects, featuring specimens from northeastern Brazil’s Crato Formation, a geological site celebrated for its remarkable fossil preservation.
The newly described extinct insect, named Vulcanidris cratensis, belongs to a group known as hell ants, specifically a subfamily called Haidomyrmecinae. This group thrived during the Cretaceous period between 66 million and 45 million years ago, and intriguingly, it is unrelated to any modern ant species. A study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology details that the fossilized ant possessed scythe-like jaws, likely utilized for pinning or impaling prey.
“I was just shocked to see that weird projection in front of this (insect’s) head,” remarked Lepeco, the lead author of the study. “Other hell ants have been described with odd mandibles, but always as amber specimens.” It is exceptionally rare to find insects preserved in rock, and most known hell ants from the Cretaceous have been found encased in amber from regions like France and Myanmar, dating back around 99 million years ago. The presence of a hell ant in what is now Brazil indicates that ants were already widely distributed across the planet at an early stage in their evolution.
This discovery not only sheds light on the evolution of ants during the early Cretaceous — a time marked by significant ecological changes — but it also provides insights into the unusual features of ancient ant species that did not survive the mass extinction event that ended the dinosaur era. The researchers noted that ants today are among the most conspicuous and abundant insect groups worldwide, inhabiting all continents except Antarctica.
Ants evolved during the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous, approximately 145 million years ago, when the ancestors of ants diverged from the same lineage that would eventually lead to wasps and bees. It wasn’t until after the asteroid impact that caused the mass extinction 66 million years ago that ants became the most common insects found in the fossil record.
Phil Barden, an associate professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, who studies insect evolutionary history, referred to the fossil as a “pretty big deal.” He stated, “This new find now represents the oldest ant known. It extends the known fossil record for ants by about ten million years.” Barden, who was not involved in the study, added, “Although fossil ants have been described since the 19th century, it was unclear if the absence of ants older than 100 million years was due to their non-existence or simply the lack of preserved specimens.”
The newly identified species displays several wasp-like characteristics, indicating a shared ancestry between the two groups. Notably, the ant's wings had significantly more veins than those of contemporary ants. Micro-computed tomography imaging, a sophisticated 3D imaging technique utilizing X-rays, revealed that this ant was closely related to hell ants previously known from Burmese amber fossils.
What stands out most about Vulcanidris cratensis is its distinctive anatomical features. Unlike modern ants that have jaws designed for lateral gripping, this ancient ant possessed scythe-like jaws that extended parallel to its head, projecting forward near the eyes. “It could have worked as a kind of forklift, moving upwards,” Lepeco explained. “The intricate morphology suggests that even these earliest ants had already evolved sophisticated predatory strategies significantly different from their modern counterparts.”
In conclusion, the discovery of the oldest ant specimen not only enhances our understanding of ant evolution but also opens new avenues for research into the ecological dynamics of the Cretaceous period. This remarkable find underscores the importance of fossil collections in unraveling the history of life on Earth.
