Plate Nº 96 · recorded October 30, 2026
Biology & EvolutionReported finding
Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid May Have Triggered Ants' Rise, Study Finds
A Science Advances study of 163 ant genomes links bursts of jumping gene activity 66 million years ago to ants' global diversification after the dinosaur-killing asteroid.
By Elena Vasquez4 min read723 words
In brief
- Researchers compared genomes of 163 ant species across 12 of 16 living ant subfamilies.
- Bursts of jumping gene activity occurred about 66 million years ago, matching the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact.
- Ant lineages with the most jumping genes tend to have the most species today; ants comprise over 15,000 species.
- The study, led by Dr. Lukas Schrader of the University of Münster, was published in Science Advances (2026, vol. 12, issue 39).
- Similar jumping gene activity has been linked to species emergence in primates and bats.
Ant lineages carrying the most "jumping genes" are the ones with the most species today — and bursts of activity from those mobile DNA segments began roughly 66 million years ago, just as the dinosaur-killing asteroid reshaped life on Earth. That's the central finding of an international study published in Science Advances, led by Dr. Lukas Schrader of the Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity at the University of Münster in Germany.
The research suggests the asteroid impact that ended the dinosaurs' reign may have set the stage for ants to conquer the planet, with an unexpected genetic assist from DNA sequences scientists once considered useless parasites.
What are jumping genes?
Jumping genes, formally called transposable elements, are pieces of DNA that can move to different locations within a genome and produce extra copies of themselves. For decades, scientists viewed them mainly as "genomic parasites." Much like viruses, they multiply without offering any clear benefit to their host — and in some cases their activity can even contribute to disease.
That picture has shifted. Researchers now recognize that these mobile elements can also create opportunities for evolutionary change. The new study argues they did exactly that for ants, playing an important role in the group's remarkable diversification.
When the team compared different ant groups, they found a clear pattern: the lineages with the greatest numbers of jumping genes also tended to be the ones with the most species alive today.
How does the asteroid fit in?
The timing is what makes the finding striking. Several major ant lineages experienced separate surges in jumping gene activity during the early Paleogene, about 66 million years ago — the same period the asteroid struck. These bursts occurred shortly before those groups began expanding into the thousands of species that exist today.
"The asteroid impact had dramatic consequences for the environment," Schrader said. "We have now found the genomic mechanism that connects these ecological upheavals to the subsequent rapid diversification of the ants: transposable elements."
Ants were not alone in getting an evolutionary push from this mechanism. Earlier studies found increased jumping gene activity linked to the emergence of new species in other animal groups, including primates and bats.
Today, ants form the largest family of social insects, with more than 15,000 species found worldwide.
Did jumping genes sharpen ants' sense of smell?
The study also found a connection between jumping genes and the expansion of gene families that let ants communicate through chemical signals. The standout involves odorant receptors — genes that enable ants to detect and respond to smells.
These receptors matter enormously. Ants rely on chemical cues for nearly every aspect of their social behavior: finding their way through the environment, recognizing members of their own colonies, and coordinating work with nestmates.
The findings suggest jumping genes may have helped expand these sensory systems, potentially improving ants' ability to detect and interpret the chemical messages that make their complex societies possible. That claim rests on genomic comparisons, though, and the researchers frame it as a likely contribution rather than a proven cause.
How did the team trace 100 million years of ant evolution?
The researchers examined and compared the genomes of 163 ant species, representing twelve of the 16 ant subfamilies alive today. That sample gave them a broad picture of genetic diversity across modern ants.
Using those comparisons, they reconstructed how transposable elements evolved and how active they were over the past 100 million years.
The results show a consistent link: ancient bursts of jumping gene activity line up with the later diversification of ants. DNA sequences once dismissed as genetic parasites may have helped one of Earth's most successful insect groups flourish.
What are the study's limits?
The findings are correlational at their core. The team reconstructed historical activity of transposable elements from modern genomes rather than observing it directly, and a shared timeline between genetic bursts and diversification doesn't prove one caused the other. Still, the pattern held across multiple independent ant lineages, which strengthens the case considerably.
The bottom line: the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs emptied Earth's ecological stage, and mobile DNA may have handed ants the genetic toolkit to fill it.
The paper, "Transposable elements as evolutionary catalysts of ant macrodiversity," appears in Science Advances, vol. 12, issue 39 (2026), DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aee0306.
via uni-muenster.de (Original)
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Correspondent covering money, funding and market shifts around general science news at SciBeat.
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