Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries
You are viewing: Home > News > Nature & Environment > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

Nature & Environment

Rare 'T. rex' ants discovered in Singapore

By T.K. Randall
May 18, 2017 · Comment icon 1 comment
For the first time ever, scientists have had the opportunity to study a colony of these elusive insects.
Named after the carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex, the ants had long remained something of a mystery to science despite the fact that they were first discovered more than 20 years ago.

Their extreme rarity, coupled with the fact that only a single specimen had ever been collected, meant that next to nothing was known about the species.


This would all be set to change however when biologist Mark Wong and colleagues came across a colony of T. rex ants in Singapore while conducting an ant diversity survey in 2016.
It turned out that the ants were most likely nocturnal, thus explaining how they had managed to remain so elusive over the years. The researchers also found that, despite being partial to eating their own kind, the ants seemed to shun other foods such as mites, millipedes and even honey.

When threatened, the insects curled up and played dead until the danger had passed.

"Increasingly, we're finding that many ants which live underground have unique life histories and ecological relationships that are poorly understood," said Wong.



Source: Seeker.com | Comments (1)




Other news and articles
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by coolguy 7 years ago
Very cool, i allways though ants were cool


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Recent news and articles