Researchers from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History created evolutionary tree models for 475 fungal species and compared them with a similarly created model for 276 ant species.
As a result of the investigations, it was determined that 288 mushroom species were grown by 208 different ant species, and it was discovered that this mutualistic relationship between ants and mushrooms dates back approximately 66 million years.
The study revealed that this relationship began in the Cretaceous period, when almost half of the living plant species disappeared due to the meteor hitting the Earth blocking sunlight. It was stated that this was due to the presence of fungi that feed on organic matter such as rotting leaves in the ecosystem with ants.
It was noted that ants turned to mushrooms for food due to the decrease in plant and organic materials in this period, and more advanced agricultural activities appeared approximately 40 million years ago.
It was stated that advanced agricultural activities such as carrying mushrooms to dry areas and ensuring their growth in isolated areas that would enable them to develop dependent on ants were first seen approximately 27 million years ago, and these advanced systems were especially observed in Atta ants.
It has been reported that Atta ants consume some parts of mushrooms that they feed on various plants.
“Ants have been farming and cultivating mushrooms for much longer than humans have been around,” said Ted Schultz, lead author of the study. he said.
Pointing out that ants domesticated mushrooms just like humans domesticated crops, Schultz said, “The extraordinary thing is that we now know when ants first cultivated mushrooms.” made his assessment.
The research was published in the journal “Science”.
