4000-year-old, UK-sized network of termite mounds discovered in Brazil

[Judi Lynn]

By Ashley May
22 November 2018 — 5:21am

Millions of termite mounds believed to be nearly 4000 years old were discovered in a remote Brazilian forest, according to researchers.

There are about 200 million of them spanning across an area the size of Great Britain in Northeast Brazil, scientists estimate in research published in the journal Current Biology. Some of the cone-shaped mounds are as tall as 3 metres and as wide as 10 metres.

A single termite species is responsible for the massive network of tunnels that excavated enough soil to build 4000 great pyramids of Giza, Stephen Martin of the University of Salford in the UK said in a statement. Some of the mounds are still actively used by termites.

"This is apparently the world's most extensive bioengineering effort by a single insect species," Roy Funch of Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana in Brazil said.

More:https://www.watoday.com.au/world/south-america/4000-year-old-uk-sized-network-of-termite-mounds-discovered-in-brazil-20181122-p50hj9.html



20 NOVEMBER 2018
4000-year-old termite mounds visible from space
Researchers find “the world's most extensive bioengineering effort by a single insect species”. Samantha Page reports.



One of the researchers standing next to one of the very large, very numerous and very old termite mounds.

ROY FUNCH

Thanks to deforestation, scientists have spotted an expanse of termite mounds in Brazil that are each about 2.5 metres tall, nine metres across, and regularly spaced across an area the size of Great Britain.

Described in the journal Current Biology, the mounds, still in use, are so large that they can be easily seen on Google Earth.

“This is apparently the world's most extensive bioengineering effort by a single insect species,” says co-author Roy Funch of Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana in Brazil.

“Perhaps most exciting of all, the mounds are extremely old — up to 4000 years, similar to the ages of the pyramids."

More:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/4000-year-old-termite-mounds-visible-from-space

[Reggie18]

1. Now THAT is an infestation!

And then ant eaters and the sort evolved.

[thbobby]

2. Cool that social insects were engineering this

4000 years ago. Smarter than we were or we are. The intelligence of social insect colonies is truly humbling to arrogant humans. Agriculture and domestication long before us. Truly a remarkable intelligence. Plus, they are beneficial to the environment. We knowingly destroy the environment.

[StatGirl]

3. I, for one, welcome our new termite overlords

Social roaches . . . they will be around long after we are gone.