Canadian and U.S. scientists have found the fossil of a new species of ant that lived 50 million years ago and was able to travel thousands of miles. The discovery was made in sediments of an ancient lake in Wyoming (USA).
The insect, named 'Titanomyrma Lubei', was about two inches, making it one of the largest ant species found so far. Apparently, these insects were transferred from the territory now known as North America to Europe (or vice versa), because in Germany have found similar examples.
The only specimen found in Wyoming is one of a queen ant. Although they have not located any worker ant of this species, researchers can get an idea of the size that would have compared to the fossil found in Germany.
warm habitats
The fossils of this type of ant that had wings and all cases were found near the plants that grow in habitats with temperatures around 20 º C.
The scientists, led by Bruce Archibald, a researcher at Simon Fraser University (Canada), believe that these ants crossed the Arctic during warm periods using land bridges between continents.
In fact, after bringing on a map all the species of ant found (both extinct and current) whose size was greater than 3 centimeters, the scientists concluded that they all live or lived in areas with tropical temperatures.
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