Tracing the Rise of Ants - Out of the Ground

Lucky, Andrea; Trautwein, Michelle D.; Guénard, Benoit S.; Weiser, Michael D.; Dunn, Robert R.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084012

Tracing the Rise of Ants - Out of the Ground

Journal Article · Thu Dec 26 00:00:00 EST 2013 · PLoS ONE

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0084012· OSTI ID:1904615

Lucky, Andrea ^[1]; Trautwein, Michelle D. ^[2]; Guénard, Benoit S. ^[3]; Weiser, Michael D. ^[4]; Dunn, Robert R. ^[5]

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States); University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States); North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States)
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States); North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC (United States)
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States); Okinawa Institute of Science & Technology, Onna, Okinawa (Japan)
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States); University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States)
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States)

The evolution of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is increasingly well-understood due to recent phylogenetic analyses, along with estimates of divergence times and diversification rates. Yet, leading hypotheses regarding the ancestral habitat of ants conflict with new findings that early ant lineages are cryptic and subterranean. Where the ants evolved, in respect to habitat, and how habitat shifts took place over time have not been formally tested. Here, we reconstruct the habitat transitions of crown-group ants through time, focusing on where they nest and forage (in the canopy, litter, or soil). Based on ancestral character reconstructions, we show that in contrast to the current consensus based on verbal arguments that ants evolved in tropical leaf litter, the soil is supported as the ancestral stratum of all ants. We also find subsequent movements up into the litter and, in some cases, into the canopy. Given the global importance of ants, because of their diversity, ecological influence and status as the most successful eusocial lineage on Earth, understanding the early evolution of this lineage provides insight into the factors that made this group so successful today.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-08ER64510

OSTI ID:: 1904615

Journal Information:: PLoS ONE, Journal Name: PLoS ONE Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 8; ISSN 1932-6203

Publisher:: Public Library of ScienceCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Phylogenomic methods outperform traditional multi-locus approaches in resolving deep evolutionary history: a case study of formicine ants Blaimer, Bonnie B.; Brady, Seán G.; Schultz, Ted R. BMC Evolutionary Biology, Vol. 15, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-015-0552-5	journal	December 2015
Climate-mediated cooperation promotes niche expansion in burying beetles Sun, Syuan-Jyun; Rubenstein, Dustin R.; Chen, Bo-Fei eLife, Vol. 3 https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.02440	journal	May 2014

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Tracing the Rise of Ants - Out of the Ground

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