Rosa Rubicondior: Refuting Creationism - A 'Hell Ant' For The Science Deniers

Tuesday, 29 April 2025

Refuting Creationism - A 'Hell Ant' For The Science Deniers

Figure 2 Photographs depicting details of Vulcanidris cratensis gen. et sp. nov. Holotype (MZSP-CRA-0002).

(A) Head and anterior portion of mesosoma. Scale bar, 1 mm.
(B) Mesosoma. Scale bar, 1 mm.
(C) Left forewing. Scale bar, 1 mm.
(D) Right forewing. Scale bar, 1 mm.
(E) Detail of head. Scale bar, 0.5 mm.
(F) Detail of petiole. Scale bar, 0.5 mm.
(G) Metasoma. Scale bar, 1 mm. Arrowheads indicate key characters mentioned in the text.

Ancient ‘Hell Ant’ Discovery Is Also The Oldest Ant Fossil Ever Unearthed | StudyFinds

Most dedicated creationist advocates will already be familiar with the mental gymnastics required to assert that a coelacanth allegedly remaining unchanged for tens of millions of years somehow disproves evolution, therefore life must have been magically created ex nihilo just a few thousand years ago.

Now they have a new specimen to test their contortions even further: a beautifully preserved 113-million-year-old ant fossil from Brazil—the oldest ant fossil discovered to date. Remarkably, by 113 million years ago, this now-extinct species was already highly specialised as a predator, equipped with distinctive scythe-like mandibles. These formidable features have earned it the informal nickname "hell ant."

The exquisitely preserved limestone fossil clearly reveals detailed wings and wing veins, characteristic of the insect order Hymenoptera, confirming ants' close evolutionary relationship with wasps and bees. Since wings are typically absent in worker ants, the presence of fully developed wings strongly suggests that this specimen represents a reproductive female—likely a queen.

This remarkable ant fossil was identified within a collection originating from the Crato Formation in northern Brazil, housed in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo. The Crato limestone was deposited in a shallow lake environment approximately 113 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period, at a time when the ancient southern supercontinent Gondwana had not yet fully separated into what would become modern-day Africa and South America.

What can you tell me about the Crato Formation in northern Brazil and how it was dated? The Crato Formation is a geologically significant Lagerstätte located in the Araripe Basin of northeastern Brazil, specifically within the states of Ceará and Pernambuco. It dates back to the Early Cretaceous period (specifically Aptian, approximately 113–125 million years ago). Renowned globally for its remarkably preserved fossils, it provides a valuable window into prehistoric ecosystems.

Geological Context

The Crato Formation comprises finely laminated limestones interbedded with shales and marls, deposited primarily in a lacustrine (lake) environment.
During the Early Cretaceous, the region was dominated by extensive freshwater or brackish-water lakes, periodically experiencing arid conditions, facilitating the excellent preservation of fossils.

Significance of the Crato Formation

Exceptional Preservation (Konservat-Lagerstätte)

The Crato Formation is celebrated for its extraordinary preservation, including soft tissues, insects with delicate wings, plants, fishes, reptiles, and occasional dinosaur feathers.
Preservation typically occurred due to rapid burial under fine-grained, oxygen-poor conditions, limiting decomposition and scavenging.
Diversity of Fossils

Insects: An exceptionally diverse array of fossil insects, including dragonflies, beetles, flies, cockroaches, and termites.
Vertebrates: Numerous fish species, pterosaurs, amphibians, turtles, crocodilians, and rare dinosaur remains.
Plants: Extensive remains, including gymnosperms (conifers), angiosperms (flowering plants, notably among the earliest known), cycads, and ferns.

Dating the Crato Formation

Dating has involved a combination of stratigraphic correlation, biostratigraphy, and geochronological methods:

Biostratigraphy and Palynology

Primarily dated to the Aptian stage (113–125 Ma) based on fossil assemblages (especially microfossils like ostracods and palynomorphs—spores and pollen).
Palynological studies (fossil pollen and spores) have helped correlate layers precisely with other contemporaneous formations globally.

Geochronological Methods

Radiometric dating using volcanic ash layers (bentonite) intercalated within or immediately adjacent to the formation.
U–Pb Zircon dating:

Zircon crystals in volcanic ash layers were dated using uranium–lead (U–Pb) isotope methods.
Zircons provide robust and accurate absolute age estimates, underpinning stratigraphic correlations.

Regional Stratigraphic Correlation

Comparative analysis with other Early Cretaceous deposits in Brazil and globally (such as the Santana Formation within the same Araripe Basin, and the Nova Olinda Member).
Correlations rely on fossil assemblages (particularly ammonites and ostracods) shared with other deposits worldwide.

Current Age Estimates

The Crato Formation is generally agreed upon to date to approximately:

Aptian Stage: ~113–125 million years ago.
More refined estimates from U–Pb radiometric dating suggest a narrower range, typically about 115–120 million years ago, specifically focused around ~116 Ma.

Importance for Scientific Research

The Crato Formation continues to be critical for:

Understanding Early Cretaceous biodiversity and ecosystems.
Studying the early evolution of insects, flowering plants, and pterosaurs.
Clarifying environmental conditions and palaeoclimates of Gondwana during the Early Cretaceous.

Summary

Location: Araripe Basin, Northeastern Brazil.
Age: Early Cretaceous (Aptian, ~113–125 Ma).
Environment: Freshwater lacustrine, arid conditions facilitating fossil preservation.
Dating Methods: Biostratigraphy (ostracods, pollen), U–Pb zircon radiometric dating, regional correlation.
Significance: Exceptional fossil preservation (insects, vertebrates, plants), pivotal for studying evolutionary processes and palaeoenvironments of the Early Cretaceous.

The combination of these factors positions the Crato Formation as one of the most significant fossil localities worldwide for understanding life and environments during the Early Cretaceous.

The fossil was identified as a new to science species of extinct ant by a team of palaeontologists led by Anderson Lepeco. Their findings are published in a Cell Press journal Current Biology and are discussed in a new release from Cell Press:

The oldest ant ever discovered found fossilized in Brazil
A 113-million-year-old hell ant that once lived in northeastern Brazil is now the oldest ant specimen known to science, finds a new report. The hell ant, which was preserved in limestone, is a member of Haidomyrmecinae -- an extinct subfamily that only lived during the Cretaceous period. These ants had highly specialized, scythe-like jaws that they likely used to pin or impale prey.

Our team has discovered a new fossil ant species representing the earliest undisputable geological record of ants. What makes this discovery particularly interesting is that it belongs to the extinct 'hell ant,' known for their bizarre predatory adaptations. Despite being part of an ancient lineage, this species already displayed highly specialized anatomical features, suggesting unique hunting behaviors.

Anderson Lepeco, lead author
Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo
São Paulo, Brazil.
The ant fossil's discovery challenges our understanding of ant evolution and biogeography through time, according to the researchers. The previous oldest ants were found in France and Burma and were preserved in amber instead of limestone. The existence of a hell ant in Brazil shows that ants were already widely distributed and diversified early in their evolution, says the team.
Even though there have been hell ants described from amber, this was the first time we could visualize this in a rock fossil.

Anderson Lepeco.

Lepeco and his team discovered the "remarkably well-preserved" ant specimen while systematically examining one of the world's largest collections of fossil insects from the Crato Formation, a deposit renowned for its exceptional fossil preservation. The collection is housed at the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo.
When I encountered this extraordinary specimen, we immediately recognized its significance, not only as a new species but as potentially the definitive evidence of ants in the Crato Formation. This finding highlights the importance of thorough examination of existing collections -- private or in museums -- and brings a spotlight to Brazilian paleontology and the underexplored fossil insect fauna of the country.

Anderson Lepeco.

Micro-computed tomography imaging -- a 3D imaging technique that uses X-rays to view the inside of an object, or ant in this case -- showed that the newly discovered ant was closely related to hell ants previously known only from specimens preserved in Burmese amber -- a type of amber found in Myanmar. The finding shows that the ants were widely distributed across the globe and must have crossed Cretaceous landmasses repeatedly, say the authors. But what astonished them most was the hell ant's specialized features.
While we expected to find hell ant features, we were shocked by the characteristics of its feeding apparatus

Anderson Lepeco.

Unlike modern ants with laterally moving mandibles, this species possessed mandibles that ran forward parallel to the head and facial projection anterior to the eyes, the researchers noted.
Finding such an anatomically specialized ant from 113 million years ago challenges our assumptions about how quickly these insects developed complex adaptations. The intricate morphology suggests that even these earliest ants had already evolved sophisticated predatory strategies significantly different from their modern counterparts.

Anderson Lepeco.

The discovery of this new ant specimen raises broader questions about the evolutionary pressures that led to the hell ant's unique adaptations, say the researchers. With advanced imaging tools, it's now possible to examine such fossil specimens in much greater detail than ever before.

Publication:

Lepeco, Anderson; Meira, Odair M.; Matielo, Diego M.; Brandão, Carlos R.F.; Camacho, Gabriela P.
A hell ant from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil
Current Biology (2025); DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.03.023.

Highlights

A new ant fossil is described from the Brazilian Crato Formation
Micro-computed tomography supports its identity as a hell ant
Ants spread through global ecosystems earlier than once believed
The new finding represents the earliest undisputed ant known to science

Summary
Modern ants are among the most ecologically dominant animal groups on Earth, with their diversity shaped by global events occurring since their origin in the late Mesozoic.^1,2,3 The so-called hell ants of the subfamily Haidomyrmecinae comprise a group of morphologically unique ants exclusive to the Cretaceous.⁴ They represent some of the earliest known ants in the fossil record, preserved as amber inclusions in deposits in France, Myanmar, and Canada.^5,6,7,8,9 Here, we report the oldest known Haidomyrmecinae, preserved as a rock impression in limestone of the Crato Konservat-Lagerstätte in northeastern Brazil. This finding also represents the earliest undisputed ant known to science. Micro-computed tomography applied to phylogenetic analysis of early ants shows that the new species is closely related to hell ants found only in Burmese amber. The presence of hell ants in the Aptian of northeastern Brazil provides the earliest evidence of Formicidae biogeographic history through deep time. The distribution of known clades indicates that hell ants were widely distributed, with repeated interchanges between Cretaceous landmasses. Notably, northeastern Brazil’s paleoenvironment contrasts with other known deposits for Haidomyrmecinae, suggesting ecological diversity among these ants. Hell ants thrived for a long time in gymnosperm-dominated and mixed landscapes, such as the Crato paleoenvironment, persisting into the angiosperm expansion before being decisively affected by geological events toward the Cretaceous end.

Figure 3 Micro-CT reconstruction of Vulcanidris cratensis gen. et sp. nov. Holotype (MZSP-CRA-0002).

(A) Habitus, ventral view (portion enclosed within limestone). Scale bar, 2.5 mm.
(B) Head and anterior portion of prothorax. Scale bar, 0.8 mm.
(C) Oblique view of head and anterior portion of prothorax. Scale bar, 0.75 mm.
(D) Detail of head capsule and mandibles. Scale bar, 0.4 mm.
(E) Meso- and metathorax. Scale bar, 1.5 mm.
(F and G) Detail of ventral portion of metepisternum and petiole from the external (F) and internal (G) views. Scale bars, 0.4 mm.
(H) Part of mesosoma, from the dorsal view (internal portion exposed on limestone), exhibiting soft tissues preserved. Scale bar, 1.5 mm. Arrowheads indicate key characters mentioned in the text.

Figure 4 Evolutionary history of Cretaceous ants
Left: schematic phylogeny of Cretaceous Formicidae highlighting Haidomyrmecinae among stem lineages of ants. Symbols represent different fossil deposits where ants have been found. Right: maps show the stratigraphic representation of fossil ants throughout the Cretaceous time slices based on data from the Paleobiology Database (https://paleobiodb.org/); symbols represent different fossil deposits where ants have been found, matching those in the cladogram on the left. Symbols with orange bordering shown over the map represent localities where Haidomyrmecinae have been recorded. The maps were generated in GPlates⁴⁰ following the reconstructions of the PALEOMAP Project.⁴¹

Lepeco, Anderson; Meira, Odair M.; Matielo, Diego M.; Brandão, Carlos R.F.; Camacho, Gabriela P.
A hell ant from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil
Current Biology (2025); DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.03.023.

© 2025 Elsevier Inc.
Reprinted under the terms of s60 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

But with so much overwhelming evidence already dismissed, what difference could one more 113-million-year-old fossil ant possibly make to creationist thinking? After all, creationism thrives as the applied practice of distorting, misrepresenting, or outright ignoring scientific evidence. Interestingly—and revealing a hidden political agenda within creationist advocacy—proponents seem unconcerned that educated, intelligent observers easily recognise their intellectual dishonesty. Their primary goal appears to be maintaining a steady influx of gullible, scientifically illiterate individuals to sustain their ideology, income and political influence.

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