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Research on soldier ants reveals that evolution can go in reverse

Started By OhNoNotAgain , Mar 9 2020 3:48 PM

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7 replies to this topic

#1 Offline OhNoNotAgain - Posted March 9 2020 - 3:48 PM

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Research on soldier ants reveals that evolution can go in reverse

https://phys.org/new...on-reverse.html

"The shape and size of a turtle-ant soldier's head is dictated by the type of tunnel the species in question occupies. The ants don't dig the tunnels themselves, but move into those excavated by wood-boring beetles. And since a hand-me-down tunnel might be too big or too small, Kronauer says, the ants diversify rapidly to be able to occupy it."

"In some cases, more specialist species reversed direction over time, evolving back into more generalist head shapes."

Martialis likes this

Past & Present

Veromessor pergandei, andrei, stoddardi; Novomessor cockerelli

Camponotus fragilis, Camponotus sansabeanus (inactive), vicinus, laevigatus/quercicola, CA02

Pogonomyrmex subnitidus, P. californicus (inactive)

Liometopum occidentale (inactive); Prenolepis imparis; Myrmecocystus mexicanus (inactive); Tetramorium sp. (inactive); Lasius sp.

Termites: Zootermopsis angusticollis, and a box of drywood termites that can't be seen

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Spoods: (no longer keeping) Phidippus sp., other

#2 Offline Da_NewAntOnTheBlock - Posted March 9 2020 - 3:52 PM

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very interesting, especially in the fact we could create soldier head shapes in captivity

Edited by Da_NewAntOnTheBlock, March 9 2020 - 3:52 PM.

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#3 Offline RushmoreAnts - Posted March 9 2020 - 3:57 PM

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Yeah, imagine the size of head it would take to block your average tube.......

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"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds (including ants). And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version

Keeping:

Tetramorium immigrans Camponotus vicinus, modoc, novaeboracensis, herculeanus

Formica pallidefulva, argentea Solenopsis molesta

Formica cf. aserva Lasius brevicornis, neoniger

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#4 Offline Da_NewAntOnTheBlock - Posted March 9 2020 - 4:15 PM

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lets not think about how insane that would get...

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#5 Offline TennesseeAnts - Posted March 9 2020 - 4:29 PM

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Yeah, imagine the size of head it would take to block your average tube.......

I doubt they would get anywhere near that size.

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#6 Offline Da_NewAntOnTheBlock - Posted March 9 2020 - 4:36 PM

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I do too which is why I said:

lets not think about how insane that would get...

TennesseeAnts likes this

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#7 Offline ponerinecat - Posted March 9 2020 - 5:41 PM

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Cephalotes have the ability to grow fibers from their head plates right? What if they just grew the fibers really long and pressed them together to make bigger head plates?

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#8 Offline Martialis - Posted March 9 2020 - 7:01 PM

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This is a more [epi]genetic thing. At least some of the genes for "generalist" heads are conserved in the daughter species, which allows them to evolve into a more generalist variety. However, you'll never get that original gene pool back (Which seems to be insinuated lightly by the article). It isn't really "reverse evolution."

As for the tubes, keep in mind that this is a bigger picture and multi-generational thing—evolution doesn't happen overnight. With the lack of selecting factors and reproductive activity in captivity, I doubt that the ants would ever change to adapt to our setups.

Edited by Martialis, March 9 2020 - 7:06 PM.