Ants Mastered Agriculture Millions of Years Before Humans

Ants, long before humans, pioneered agriculture by cultivating fungi approximately 66 million years ago, according to recent research. This timeframe coincides with an asteroid impact causing a mass extinction and creating favorable conditions for fungi to flourish. These innovative ants began farming fungi, forging a mutually beneficial relationship that has lasted over millions of years and mirrored the domestication practices seen in human agriculture.

Recently published in the journal Science, the study led by Ted Schultz from the Smithsonian revealed the agricultural sophistication of ants. Ants' evolution in farming fungi can be dated back to shortly after the asteroid impact, as identified through comprehensive genetic analysis of multiple ant and fungi species. Notably, nearly 250 ant species across the Americas and Caribbean engage in fungi farming, operating within four distinct farming methods, with leafcutter ants practicing advanced agriculture. They nurture fungi by feeding it vegetation, establishing a system where the fungi in return provides food in the form of gongylidia to the ants, supporting complex colonies comprising millions of ants.

Over the last 66 million years, ants have enhanced their agricultural methods, with breakthroughs occurring around 27 million years ago when they adapted to drier climates, leading to a more advanced form of farming akin to crop domestication seen in humans. Having isolated fungi from their wild relatives in arid regions, these ants maintained fungal dependency for survival, establishing what’s now known as higher agriculture.

The foundation for these insights rests on thousands of genetic samples gathered from Central and South America under Schultz's extensive research tenure. This robust data, made achievable through international collaboration—as noted in the paper authored by multiple global institutes—unveils not only the longevity but also the remarkable adaptability of ant-fungus agricultural systems. This work was supported and recognized by numerous scientific communities, reaffirming that while extinction events might devastate many species, they can also offer evolutionary opportunities for others like fungi and ants.

Earlier, SSP wrote that the comet to make the closest approach to Earth since the stone age.