About 66 million years ago, the asteroid impact that ended the age of dinosaurs triggered major ecological changes, creating opportunities for new animal species to emerge. Ants appear to have benefited from this upheaval, rising to ecological dominance and eventually becoming the largest family of social insects, with more than 15,000 species worldwide.
A new study published in Science Advances suggests that so-called transposable elements, or “jumping genes”, may have played an important role in this evolutionary success. The international research team, led by biologist Lukas Schrader of the University of Münster, found that ant lineages with more transposable elements in their genomes are also among the most species-rich today.
Researchers identified independent bursts of transposable element activity in the ancestors of major ant groups during the early Palaeogene, around 66 million years ago. These bursts occurred shortly before the lineages diversified into thousands of species.
Transposable elements are DNA sequences capable of moving and replicating within genomes. Once considered genomic parasites, they are increasingly recognised as potential drivers of evolutionary innovation.
The study also linked their activity to the expansion of gene families involved in chemical communication. Odorant receptors are particularly important to ants, which rely heavily on smell to recognise nestmates, navigate and coordinate colonies.
The researchers compared genomes from 163 ant species across 12 of the 16 living ant subfamilies, reconstructing transposable element activity over the past 100 million years.
The project secured funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG).