Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 1, 2025
10:11
Collection and Long-Term Maintenance of Leaf-Cutting Ants Atta in Laboratory Conditions
Published on: August 30, 2022
2.6K
The Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution buffered ants against extinction.
Corentin Jouault1,2,3, Fabien L Condamine2, Frédéric Legendre1
1Institut de Systématique Évolution, Biodiversité, UMR 7205, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE-PSL, Université des Antilles, Paris 75005, France.
Summary
Ants diversified significantly due to angiosperm radiation, with new niches and resources buffering extinction. Fossil and neontological data reveal key diversification and extinction periods, supporting co-diversification and buffered extinction hypotheses.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Paleontology
- Ecology
Background:
- Ants exhibit remarkable diversity and ecological importance, yet the drivers of their evolutionary dynamics remain unclear.
- Previous studies on ant diversification patterns, particularly those linked to the Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution (ATR), have not fully integrated fossil record data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To comprehensively analyze ant diversification dynamics by integrating fossil and neontological data.
- To test hypotheses of co-diversification, competitive extinction, hyper-specialization, and buffered extinction in ants.
- To elucidate the role of environmental changes, specifically the ATR, in shaping ant evolutionary trajectories.
Main Methods:
- Compiled a large dataset combining ant fossil records (~24,000 occurrences) and neontological data (~14,000 occurrences).
- Accounted for potential biases within the fossil record during analysis.
- Tested four major hypotheses explaining ant diversification patterns.
Main Results:
- Identified three distinct ant diversification periods (Late Cretaceous, Eocene, Oligo-Miocene) and one extinction period (Late Cretaceous).
- Found no support for competitive extinction between stem and crown ants.
- Provided evidence supporting co-diversification, buffered extinction, and hyper-specialization hypotheses.
Conclusions:
- The Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution (ATR) played a crucial role in buffering ants against extinction and promoting diversification.
- New ecological niches and resources provided by angiosperms facilitated ant diversification.
- Hyper-specialized morphology may have contributed to the decline of stem ants during the Late Cretaceous due to limited dietary adaptability.
Related Concept Videos
02:22Introduction to Plant Diversity
44.7K
From Water to Land
44.7K
02:22The Colonization of Land
34.3K
Changes in the environment of the early Earth drove the evolution of organisms. As prokaryotic organisms in the oceans began to photosynthesize, they produced oxygen. Eventually, oxygen saturated the oceans and entered the air, resulting in an increase in atmospheric oxygen concentration, known as the oxygen revolution approximately 2.3 billion years ago. Therefore, organisms that could use oxygen for cellular respiration had an advantage. More than 1.5 years ago, eukaryotic cells and...
34.3K
02:39The Angiosperm Life Cycle
65.2K
Plants have a life cycle split between two multicellular stages: a haploid stage—with cells containing one set of chromosomes—and a diploid stage—with cells containing two sets of chromosomes. The haploid stage is the gamete-producing gametophyte, and the diploid stage is the spore-producing sporophyte.
65.2K
02:26Non-vascular Seedless Plants
64.5K
The diverse plant life on Earth—consisting of nearly 400,000 species—can be divided into three broad categories based on biological characteristics: nonvascular, seedless vascular, and seed plants.
64.5K
01:50Threats to Biodiversity
22.3K
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
22.3K
02:40Pollination and Flower Structure
64.7K
Flowers are the reproductive, seed-producing structures of angiosperms. Typically, flowers consist of sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. Sepals and petals are the vegetative flower organs. Stamens and carpels are the reproductive organs.
64.7K