The prey of these giant insects was lizards and even small mammals. The largest individuals had a length of about 5 centimeters and the weight of a small bird. The wingspan of flying species can reach 16 centimeters.

what is known

Ants are more common in areas with a warm climate, and animals capable of independently regulating their body temperature can also live in colder parts of the planet. Knowing this, scientists are looking for answers to the following question: How did giant ants get through the icy Bering Strait? between present-day Russia and Alaska to Canada and then to Wyoming in the northwest of the United States. How they were able to cross the Atlantic is as uncertain as they exist in a very cold climate.

A recently discovered fossil that preserves the remains of an ancient ant may shed light on this question. The researchers established a “kinship” between this find and other fossils found in British Columbia, Canada, but it’s currently impossible to determine exactly how their sizes matched.

Hummingbird and Ancient Ant / Photograph: BRUCE ARCHIBALD

Scientists managed to establish that the remains belong to the same period.

• Scientists suggest the possibility of a period of “global warming” in which ants were able to cross the relatively warm Arctic by land.
• There is also a hypothesis that such ants may be more resistant to cold.

To finally find out, it is necessary to find new fossils suitable for research. The information obtained is likely to force scientists to reconsider not only their ideas about ants, but also their ideas about how life in general spread to Earth tens of millions of years ago.