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Post by jolon on May 19, 2009 22:52:37 GMT 1
Hi, While searching the internet I came across Formicium giganteum the largest species of ant ever recorded (now extinct) - the workers grew to 3cm and its queens to 5cm and the new queens and males had a wingspan of about 13cm. www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/436.shtml
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2009 0:53:05 GMT 1
Wow! That is awesome
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2009 5:10:03 GMT 1
Scary
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2009 18:19:57 GMT 1
Cool!
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2009 18:22:48 GMT 1
I'm actually glad they aren't on the earth anymore They could probably take your finger off! I wonder how they came to be extinct
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2009 18:31:49 GMT 1
*shudders*
Maybe some sort of disease wiped them out...
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Post by internecivus on May 20, 2009 19:31:11 GMT 1
@andrew: Being big doesn't necessarily mean you have an advantage. Look at bacteria: They are small yet mighty all the same .
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Post by phasmid on May 20, 2009 20:23:01 GMT 1
There are other 3cm ants out there still btw, such as Camponotus gigas and Paraponera clavata.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2009 20:48:42 GMT 1
Wickk lol, I'd love to see these in action I bet they were nasty, scary though lol, be cool to see bull ants vs. these lol, I think we would probably know who would win but you never know
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2009 22:34:49 GMT 1
Considering they are the biggest ant species alive, I would guess they went extinct due to lack of food, space, and other resources.
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2009 6:34:45 GMT 1
I didn't think of that...
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Post by internecivus on May 21, 2009 11:10:47 GMT 1
I reckon that they went extinct due to environmental changes. Looking at the date in which they lived, I believe the environment was going crazy back then. Another plausible idea it that they may have just evolved.
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Post by jolon on May 21, 2009 14:44:07 GMT 1
I reckon that they went extinct due to environmental changes. Looking at the date in which they lived, I believe the environment was going crazy back then. Another plausible idea it that they may have just evolved. I think I have to agree with internecivus, many other species of animal and insect have gone extinct over time because of environmental changes, also there might have been not enough food to sustain a colony that big. They are ancestral relatives of Formica rufa and other wood ants.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2009 1:31:54 GMT 1
I believe back then their was more oxygen in the air allowing insects to reach much larger sizes. They could have simply evolved into a smaller ant species because their design was insufficient at bringing enough oxygen in.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2009 8:52:14 GMT 1
That is very true
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