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Amber Fossil Reveals Hunting Prowess of Ancient 'Hell Ant'

posted by Fnord666 on Monday August 10 2020, @01:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the who-is-Amber-Fossil? dept.

"MrPlow" writes:

Submitted via IRC for RandomFactor

An ancient amber fossil has offered scientists new insights into the deadly hunting prowess of the "hell ant" species Ceratomyrmex ellenbergeri.

The 99-million-year-old amber, unearthed in Myanmar, trapped a member of the Haidomyrmecine subfamily -- the group known as hell ants -- just as the predator snatched a cockroach relative with its scythe-like mandibles.

Animal behavior rarely becomes fossilized, and fossilized hunting behavior is especially elusive. The hell ant fossil, described Thursday in the journal Current Biology, is a one-of-a-kind find.

Journal Reference:
Phillip Barden. Specialized Predation Drives Aberrant Morphological Integration and Diversity in the Earliest Ants, Current Biology (DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.106)

Source: https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2020/08/06/Amber-fossil-reveals-hunting-prowess-of-ancient-hell-ant/3761596726657/

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 10 2020, @02:40PM (5 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 10 2020, @02:40PM (#1034333) Journal

    Now we have some idea where fire ants came from, right? If you've ever met the things, you probably hate them. Odd, though - one of my sons isn't bothered by them. He can literally stand on, or even sit on, a fire ant mound, and they won't eat on him. I wish I had whatever he has to prevent them biting!

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  • (Score: 2) by Subsentient on Monday August 10 2020, @03:03PM (2 children)

    by Subsentient (1111) on Monday August 10 2020, @03:03PM (#1034337) Homepage Journal

    Are you sure he doesn't just have an immunity to pain?

    --
    "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 10 2020, @03:09PM (1 child)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 10 2020, @03:09PM (#1034340) Journal

      Pain is one thing. Not being bitten or stung is something else entirely. Typically, I can be bitten a few times, and not realize it - a single bite doesn't hurt much. It's later, though, when the bite blisters up, burns and itches, that you really regret your carelessness.

      The son doesn't get bitten or stung. Weird stuff!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 11 2020, @08:25PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 11 2020, @08:25PM (#1035133)

        When I was a kid in NC, I dug up fire ant nests in the backyard (to put them in those big glass pickle jars, and watch what they did to the other bugs, or when I filled it halfway with water), never got stung or bitten. Never been stung by a bee or wasp either.

  • (Score: 1) by PaperNoodle on Monday August 10 2020, @03:16PM

    by PaperNoodle (10908) on Monday August 10 2020, @03:16PM (#1034347)

    Oddly enough fire ants make great captive colonies. If that's your thing.

    --
    B3

  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Monday August 10 2020, @06:24PM

    by looorg (578) on Monday August 10 2020, @06:24PM (#1034441)

    I thought it was the offspring of Hellboy and Antman.