Researchers study one of the world’s largest fossil collections and stumble upon the world’s oldest specimen: the hell ant
A team of experts from Brazil has identified the fossil of a new species, Vulcanidris cratensis, which belongs to the same family as the infamous hell ant.
There are a lot of ants in the world. An overwhelming number. It’s nearly impossible to get rid of them all. Just when you think you’ve solved an endless indoor infestation, they appear through another crack. They seem unstoppable.
And for good reason—according to a study from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, there are an estimated 20 quadrillion ants across the planet.
That’s roughly 2.5 million ants per person. Now, researchers have discovered the fossil of a new species, representing the oldest known fossil record of this insect. Named Vulcanidris cratensis, it belongs to an extinct group of ants called Haidomyrmecinae, commonly referred to as hell ants.
This ant lived approximately 113 million years ago in northeastern Brazil, according to a study published in Current Biology. The fossil was preserved in limestone and is considered “the oldest undisputed geological record of ants,” said Anderson Lepeco from the Museum of Zoology at the University of São Paulo.
A unique species
This family of ants featured a distinct trait: scythe-like mandibles used to attack prey. “What makes this discovery fascinating is that it belongs to the extinct hell ant group, known for its predatory adaptations,” said the study’s author. Despite being part of an ancient lineage, the species already showed highly specialized anatomical traits, suggesting unique hunting behaviors.
Until now, the oldest known ants had been found in France and Myanmar. But this discovery in Brazil—far from those locations—demonstrates that ants were already widely distributed across different parts of the world early in their evolution, the researchers noted. “While hell ants have been described from amber, this is the first time we’ve observed one in a rock fossil,” they added.
The discovery was almost accidental. Lepeco’s team was examining one of the largest collections of fossilized insects in the world from the Crato Formation, a site renowned for its exceptional fossil preservation. That’s when they noticed it. “When I found this specimen, we immediately recognized its importance—not just as a new species, but as potential definitive evidence of ants in the Crato Formation,” Lepeco concluded.
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