SUMMARY
- A fossil from northeastern Brazil reveals the world’s oldest known ant, extending the ant fossil record by 10 million years.
- The species, identified as a “hell ant,” had vertical scythe-like mandibles used to impale prey—unlike anything seen in modern ants.
- The find rewrites early ant evolution and suggests ants were already globally distributed during the dinosaur era.
Evolution’s Secret Stinger: The Oldest Ant Was Stranger Than Science Imagined
Long before ants conquered every continent (except Antarctica) and became the ubiquitous survivors of the insect world, one particular species patrolled prehistoric Brazil with weaponized jaws and a uniquely alien anatomy. Newly published research has confirmed that a fossil from the limestone beds of northeastern Brazil—first spotted in a museum drawer—has redefined our understanding of ant evolution. It may also prove that some of the world’s earliest ants were apex predators in their miniature ecosystems.
The ant, now officially the oldest known specimen of its kind, lived roughly 113 million years ago, during the age of dinosaurs. Discovered in a collection housed at the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo, the fossil belongs to a group called Haidomyrmecinae, or “hell ants.” This subfamily was previously known only from amber found in Myanmar, making this a rare—and revelatory—find in stone.
The fossil was unearthed not in the field but in storage. Evolutionary biologist Anderson Lepeco, the lead author of the study, described his surprise: “I was just shocked to see that weird projection in front of this insect’s head.” Those “projections” turned out to be vertical mandibles designed not for chewing but for impaling prey—a feature seen in no living ant species today.
This article explores three emerging narratives from this ancient predator’s rediscovery: how it redefines the evolutionary timeline of ants, what its anatomy tells us about extinct hunting strategies, and how the fossil throws a spotlight on overlooked biodiversity in South America.
Scientists have discovered the world's oldest ant fossil. 🐜Living alongside the dinosaurs, the "hell ant" had a horn and tusk-like jaws, likely for taking down large insect prey.
— Calcutta Times (@Calcutta_Times) April 29, 2025
Source: @natgeo
3D CT Scan Video by Odair M. Meira
Photograph by Anderson Lepco#news #facts pic.twitter.com/acg6JlG1Gq
Scythe-Mandibled Monsters: The Forgotten Predators of Ant Evolution
- The fossil ant has scythe-like jaws that projected vertically from its face—an adaptation never seen in modern ants.
- The species likely used these mandibles to impale prey in a motion more reminiscent of a trapdoor spider than a modern ant.
- These predatory features support theories that early ants were solitary hunters before evolving colony-based strategies.
Most ants today are social, cooperative, and highly specialised in their roles—nurses, warriors, builders. But this ancient specimen tells a different story. The ant, now officially the earliest known fossil ant, reveals a lineage that was far more solitary and savage. Its mandibles, instead of being hinged sideways like modern ants, extended vertically in front of the eyes, allowing for impalement-style attacks.
Phil Barden, an entomologist at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, called the fossil “a pretty big deal,” noting that it pushes back the known ant fossil record by 10 million years. More importantly, the fossil gives a rare glimpse into early ant behavior. These hell ants didn’t form orderly lines to food sources. They likely ambushed prey, using brutal biomechanics lost entirely in today’s species.
This evolutionary outlier suggests that modern ants—disciplined, eusocial and decentralized—are just one path in a long, branching history that began with much weirder, more violent cousins.
A Global Insect Empire Before the Dinosaurs Fell
- The fossil was discovered in South America, but other hell ants have been found in Myanmar—hinting at early global ant dispersion.
- This supports the theory that ants emerged and spread much earlier than previously assumed.
- The Brazilian fossil underscores the overlooked importance of South America in insect evolution.
Until now, all hell ant fossils were discovered in Burmese amber, dating back to the mid-Cretaceous. This new fossil predates those and was embedded in limestone, not amber—adding a completely new dimension to fossilization and preservation possibilities.
It also strongly indicates that ants had already become widespread across Gondwana, the southern supercontinent, by the early Cretaceous period. In other words, ants weren’t just a tropical curiosity—they were becoming global long before flowers bloomed or mammals diversified.
That this discovery came from Brazil—not a typical hotspot for insect paleontology—suggests that our picture of prehistoric life is still heavily biased by fossil accessibility, not biology. South America may hold far more of these ancient secrets, fossilized not in golden amber but in grey stone and overlooked museum drawers.
The Ones That Didn’t Survive: What the Hell Ant Tells Us About Extinction
- The fossil reveals evolutionary traits—like vertically slicing jaws—that didn’t survive the dinosaur-killing extinction event.
- Its blend of wasp-like and ant-like traits strengthens theories about the common ancestry of Hymenoptera.
- Understanding extinct insects like hell ants may offer clues to why some species adapt and others vanish.
Modern ants are survivors, comprising more than 13,000 species globally. Yet this fossil reveals that not all early ants were built to last. The hell ant’s unusual physiology—its alien face, its predatory features—represents an evolutionary dead end. After the mass extinction that ended the Cretaceous, these creatures vanished.
Fossils like this don’t just reveal what once was. They raise the question: Why did this fail? Were hell ants too specialised to survive changing climates? Did they lose out to the more flexible, colony-minded ants of today? Or were their habitats simply wiped clean in a moment of planetary upheaval?
These questions aren’t just academic. As climate change and biodiversity loss accelerate in the 21st century, understanding the collapse of ancient ecosystems has never felt more urgent.
The Ancient Stinger’s Echo: Rewriting the Ant’s Origin Story
The discovery of the oldest ant fossil is not just a date on the timeline of life. It’s a challenge to the assumptions we hold about how species spread, specialize, and survive. While modern ants have become a symbol of social cooperation and adaptability, this fossil proves they had wilder, lonelier beginnings.
And perhaps the strangest part? This story was hiding in a museum drawer, not buried beneath meters of rock. How many more answers lie locked in plain sight?
The hell ant doesn’t just redefine the evolutionary arc of ants. It reminds us that nature’s first drafts were often weirder, fiercer, and far more experimental than we like to remember. And it leaves us with one question more chilling than any prehistoric predator: How much do we still not know?
