Martialis: the first of a new ant subfamily

2008/11/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

Christian Rabeling, a biologist at the University of Texas, discovers a strange ant in the forests of Brazil. According to the expert, the appearance and characteristics of the ancient ants is what makes this discovery very significant. The ant, besides belonging to a new species, has opened a new taxonomic classification branch. It is an unknown genus ant, which has been considered by experts as the first member of a subfamily. Being such a rare insect, the entomologist has called it the Mars ant and given it the scientific name of Martialis heureka.

Experts are surprised because the ant doesn't look like wasps. In evolution, ants come from wasps and, therefore, being an ant of ancestral characteristics, they hoped to resemble them. In addition, it is without eyes (underground animal, therefore), with long and narrow jaws, with the pair of hind legs very little developed compared to the previous ones. According to entomologists, the place of Martialis in the group of ants is the same as that of ornithothorns among mammals.