The oldest known example of ants held his prey with strange mandibules, the researchers claim

When you think of predators, you probably imagine large animals with sharp claws or teeth, like tiger or sharks. However, over 100 million years ago, a small but scary scary predator impulses his prey with scythe -like jaws.

While investigating a large collection of fossil insects at the Museum of Zoology at the University of São Paulo, researchers in Brazil realized that a fossil 113 million represents a new species of ants and may be the oldest species of ants known for science. Fossilized ant, called Vulcanidris Cratensis, is a member of the missing ants subfamily Haidomyrmecinae. Appropriately called “hell ants”, Haidomyrmecinae ants existed long Cretas (145 million to 66 million years ago) and are known to paleontologists for their bad and highly specialized jaws.

“Our team has discovered a new species of fossil ants representing the earliest unquestionable geological record of the ants,” said Anderson Lepeco, a researcher from the Museum of Zoology at the University of São Paulo, in a Cell Press STATEMENT. “What makes this discovery particularly interesting is that it belongs to the missing” hell ant “known for their strange predatory adaptations.”

Lepeco co -author of a study Detail of the discovery, published on Thursday in the current magazine Biology. He and his colleagues studied the Hell’s ant, preserved in limestone, through a 3D image technique called micro-computers, which reveals the interior of the objects. According to their analysis, the ant had impressive mandibules (parts of the mouth) that flowed forward, parallel to the shape of the head in front of the eyes, which were apparently used to lower prey. In contrast, mandibles in modern ants move sideways.

“Finding such an anatomically specialized ant from 113 million years ago challenges our assumptions about how quickly these insects developed complex adaptations,” Lepeco explained. “Complicated morphology suggests that even these earlier ants had evolved sophisticated predatory strategies significantly different from their modern counterparts.”

Moreover, the researchers concluded that the specimen was closely linked to other species previously discovered of ants stored in Amber in Myanmar. Since Vulcanidris Cratens came from Crorro-A hot fossil point in northeast Brazil-Joids suggests that up to 113 million years ago, Haidomyrmecinae ants had already spread all over the world.

“When I encountered this extraordinary specimen, we immediately recognized its meaning, not only as a new species, but as potentially the final test of ants in the Crato lineup,” Lepeco added. “This finding underlines the importance of the full examination of existing collections – private or in the museum – and brings a spotlight in Brazilian paleontology and the fauna of the country’s indecisive fossils.”

The study ultimately reveals that ants had already been diversified and expanded worldwide 113 million years ago, shedding light on the evolution of one of the most successful insects on the planet.