Until recently, the history of ants was unknown for the most part. Even though these creatures are found in almost every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth, little is known about there past. Research done at Harvard University by biologist Corrie Moreau and Naomi Pierce has shed light on the past of these brilliant organisms. Originating 140-168 million years ago, ants are now believed to have diversified only about 100 million years ago. This happens to be around the same time that plants began to flower. The research involved took the DNA sequence of six genes from around 139 different ant genera. Using 139 different genera's means the used almost every subfamily of ants around the world, making there results more accurate than a smaller sample would be. Additionally, using the "molecular clock," the scientist took 43 different fossils from the ant family tree (different ant species throughout time), and used the fossil data collected to better understand key events in the evolution of ants themselves. The biggest event is when flowering plants began to take off and diversify. This allowed the ants to diversify because they used the herbivorous insects as a food source. These insects evolved with the flowering plants, diversifying the insect world, thus giving ants a much greater food source. It is important to note that the flowering plants most likely allowed multiple organisms to diversify. Still, it was found the subfamily Leptanillinae (the species that we know very little about) as being the most ancient. This would make sense that since they are the most ancient there would be much less known about them. Humans are one step closer to understanding the organism that rules most of the terrestrial environment today. You must understand the history and past of an organism to better understand it today.
Text source: "Ancient Ants Arose 140-168 Million Years Ago; Insects Needed Flowering Plants To Flourish." ScienceDaily. The National Science Foundation. 7 Apr. 2006. Web. 13 May 2011.
Picture source: El-Showk, Sedeer. Sisyphean ant. 22 Aug. 2009. Picture. Flickr. Web. 13 May. 2011.
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