The fossil of a 113-million-year-old hell ant, believed to have lived among dinosaurs, has now become the oldest ant specimen known to science, according to a new study.
The fossil was discovered in a collection at the Museum of Zoology of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, CNN reported.
The hell ant, which had been preserved in limestone, has been described as a member of a subfamily -- Haidomyrmecinae.
The study, published in Current Biology journal on Thursday, suggests the extinct subfamily survived during the Cretaceous period, around 66 million and 45 million years ago.
Unrelated to any of the ant species alive today, they had their own unique way of killing its prey. Named Vulcanidris cratensis, these ants had scythe-like jaws, which they are believed to have used to pin or impale prey.
Anderson Lepeco, a researcher at the Sao Paulo-based university's Museum of Zoology, witnessed the "extraordinary" specimen in September last year at the museum that houses one of the largest collections of fossilised insects around the world. It has specimens from the Crato Formation of northeastern Brazil.
The lead author said he was "shocked" to see the "weird projection" in front of the hell ant's head, adding that others have been described with "odd mandibles, but always as amber specimens," CNN reported.
Mr Lepeco and his team suggested other heel ants from the Cretaceous period date back to roughly 99 million years, but these were found preserved in amber and not limestone in France and Myanmar.
The hell ant's existence in Brazil highlighted that they were already widely distributed on the Earth and diversified quite early in their evolution, the researchers added.
The study claims that ants, found almost on all continents in today's time except for Antarctica, evolved around 145 million years ago during the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods.
They went on to become the most common insect found in the fossil record after dinosaurs and other species got extinct around 66 million years ago following an asteroid strike, the research said.
Phil Barden, an associate professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said the latest fossil was a "pretty big deal" as it further extends the fossil record for ants by "about ten million years".
In his study, Mr Lepeco also discussed the wasp-like characteristics of the new species.
With the help of micro-computed tomography imaging, it was found the species was related to the hell ants earlier known from Burmese amber fossils.
