A team of researchers led by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of entomology. A 16-million-year-old amber fossil, found in the Dominican Republic, has revealed the smallest predator ant ever discovered. The fossil, named Basiceros enana, belongs to the Basiceros genus of dirt ants, which are known for their remarkable ability to camouflage themselves in soil and leaf litter using specialized hairs on their bodies.

Until now, these ants had only been found in the neotropical rainforests stretching from Costa Rica to Southern Brazil. However, this ancient fossil suggests that they once inhabited the Caribbean islands as well. The discovery raises new questions about how these ants reached their present-day habitats and why they ultimately went extinct in the region.

The researchers applied advanced imaging techniques at NJIT and Japan’s Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University to capture the fossil in exquisite detail. By comparing the specimen’s physical characteristics with those of all known modern dirt ant species, they conducted molecular dating analyses to trace its evolutionary lineage.

Measuring just 5.13 millimeters long, Basiceros enana is significantly smaller than its modern relatives, which can reach nearly 9 millimeters in length. This finding flips previous hypotheses that these ants were ancestrally large and shrank over time. Instead, it suggests that they almost doubled in size over the course of 20 million years.

The fossil also preserves other distinctive morphological characteristics, such as an upturned propodeal spine, a trapezoid-like head structure, and predatory features like mandibles with 12 triangular teeth. These adaptations, including two layers of specialized hairs for adhering soil particles against their bodies, suggest that the ancient Caribbean dirt ants employed the same strategies to avoid predators and prey that modern Basiceros ants use today.

Despite these remarkable findings, the researchers note that the extinction of these ancient ants in the region remains a mystery. They propose that it may have been due to a loss of available niches or interspecific competition, highlighting the importance of understanding what drives local extinctions to mitigate modern human-driven extinction and protect biodiversity.

In this groundbreaking study, two scholars from Girton College, Cambridge, present their findings on the Humiliamini sermon, which contains the enigmatic reference to Wade. By analyzing the writing style and arguments presented in the sermon, they conclude that it was likely written by Alexander Neckam or an acolyte familiar with his work.

The sermon’s focus on humility as a lesson in the face of human vices is strikingly relevant today. The researchers highlight the use of vivid animal imagery to convey these themes, including powerful men becoming like wolves and cunning individuals imitating serpents.

Their study sheds new light on the Song of Wade, a medieval literary mystery that has puzzled scholars for over a century. By uncovering its true meaning, this research contributes significantly to our understanding of medieval literature, history, and theology.

As one scholar notes, “This sermon still resonates today… It warns that it’s us, humans, who pose the biggest threat, not monsters.” The retranslation of the Song of Wade offers a powerful reminder of the importance of humility in our daily lives.

[Image description: A sun-kissed landscape with towering trees, sparkling rivers, and vast plains stretching out to the horizon. In the foreground, a group of early humans are seen huddled around a fire, roasting meat on skewers while others are busy gathering fruits and berries from nearby bushes. Nearby, a Neanderthal individual is spotted, using a crude stone tool to scrape off flesh from a freshly hunted mammoth carcass. The two groups seem to be living in harmony, with some members of each group occasionally interacting and exchanging goods or stories.]

The Princeton study, led by Joshua Akey, has uncovered new layers of the shared history between early humans and Neanderthals. Using a genetic tool called IBDmix, the researchers mapped gene flow between the hominin groups over the past quarter-million years, revealing multiple waves of contact and interbreeding.

“We now know that for the vast majority of human history, we’ve had a history of contact between modern humans and Neanderthals,” said Akey. The results of their work were published in the journal Science, challenging previous genetic data that suggested modern humans evolved in Africa 250,000 years ago and then dispersed out of Africa 50,000 years ago.

The study found evidence of three main waves of contact: one about 200-250,000 years ago, another around 100-120,000 years ago, and the largest wave about 50-60,000 years ago. This contrasts sharply with previous research that suggested modern humans stayed put in Africa for 200,000 years before dispersing out.

The researchers also discovered that Neanderthals had a smaller population than previously thought, with estimates revised from around 3,400 individuals to roughly 2,400. This finding helps explain how Neanderthals disappeared from the fossil and genetic record around 30,000 years ago.

Akey’s team found strong evidence consistent with Fred Smith’s hypothesis that Neanderthals were largely absorbed into modern human communities rather than going extinct. “Our results provide strong genetic data consistent with Fred’s hypothesis, and I think that’s really interesting,” said Akey.

The study provides a new understanding of the complex relationship between early humans and Neanderthals, highlighting the importance of interbreeding and cultural exchange in shaping human evolution.