Science
99-million-year-old fight between ‘hell ant’ and its prey preserved in amber – BBC Focus Magazine
Researchers say the only way prey could be captured in this position is for the ant’s mouthparts to move in a direction “unlike that of all living ants”.
A stunning, 99-million-year-old fossil has captured a hell ant in the act of attacking its prey.
It provides rare evidence for how these extinct insects hunted with their scythe-like mandibles and horn-like headgear.
The hell ant belongs to a previously identified species called Ceratomyrmex ellenbergeri. It was preserved in amber found in Myanmar (formerly Burma) along with its insect prey, an extinct relative of the cockroach.
Read more fossil findings:
Like other species of hell ant, Cera…
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