Far Out Phylogenetics - The Base Of The Ant Evolutionary Tree Found
Monday, September 15, 2008 - 21:28
in Biology & Nature
AUSTIN, Texas—A new species of blind, subterranean, predatory ant discovered in the Amazon rainforest by University of Texas at Austin evolutionary biologist Christian Rabeling is likely a descendant of the very first ants to evolve. The new ant is named Martialis heureka, which translates roughly to "ant from Mars," because the ant has a combination of characteristics never before recorded. It is adapted for dwelling in the soil, is two to three millimeters long, pale, and has no eyes and large mandibles, which Rabeling and colleagues suspect it uses to capture prey. Read More...
Read the whole article on Scientific Blogging
More from Scientific Blogging
Related
- New ant species discovered in the Amazon likely represents oldest living lineage of antsMon, 15 Sep 2008, 17:23:06 EDT
- Method for computing evolutionary trees could revolutionize evolutionary biologyThu, 18 Jun 2009, 14:27:09 EDT
- Model for Angelman syndrome developed by University of Texas at Austin biologistsThu, 14 Aug 2008, 11:36:06 EDT
- Discovery of giant roaming deep sea protist provides new perspective on animal evolutionThu, 20 Nov 2008, 13:29:38 EST
- Study reveals critical role of evolutionary processes in species coexistence and diversityTue, 19 May 2009, 9:51:11 EDT