{
  "id": 5439399,
  "title": "Tiny fossils reveal big insights about ant ancestors",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/tiny-fossils-reveal-big-insights-about-ant-ancestors",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-03T23:20:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-09-tiny-fossils-reveal-big-insights.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Tiny ant fossils unearthed in Saskatchewan are shedding new light on the evolutionary history of modern ants. These rare 72–56 million-year-old fossils, discovered in the Big Muddy amber deposit, hold clues about how insects like ants adapted after a mass extinction event wiped out all non-bird dinosaurs. Two partial ant fossils, one preserving part of an ant's head and the other a partial body, were analyzed using the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan. The specimens were embedded in epoxy and polished to reveal the insects inside, then scanned using X-ray micro-tomography to create detailed 3D models. Despite being partial fossils, the team was able to identify the ants to specific subfamilies still existing today, primarily found in the global south. Researchers predict that a 67-million-year-old specimen belonged to a ground-nesting group, while later ants of the same family lived in trees, similar to their modern relatives. This suggests an evolutionary shift from life on the forest floor to life in vegetation canopies over millions of years. The Big Muddy region during this time was a lush, swampy forest with metasequoia trees, ferns, and flowering plants. Ants, as ecosystem engineers, surviving and adapting after the extinction of nonavian dinosaurs helps scientists understand how modern ecosystems emerged. The amber samples now preserved at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum may reveal more fossil discoveries about insect evolution in North America.",
  "summary": "Two tiny ant fossils recovered in southern Saskatchewan are helping scientists better understand the evolutionary history of modern ants. Ant fossils dating from 72–56 million years ago are rare. What happened to insects such as ants during this period that saw a mass extinction wipe out all non-bird dinosaurs? How did that event reshape their world?",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}