Transposable elements—mobile stretches of DNA sometimes called “jumping genes”—may have helped ants diversify after the end-Cretaceous extinction about 66 million years ago. A 2026 study found bursts of transposable-element activity in ancestors of major ant groups around the early Paleogene, before those groups later became species-rich. The results point to a possible genetic contribution, not proof that jumping genes alone explain why ants thrived.
What the new ant study found
In a paper published in Science Advances, a team led by Lukas Schrader at the University of Münster compared genomes from 163 ant species, covering 12 of the 16 extant ant subfamilies. The researchers reconstructed transposable-element histories across roughly 100 million years. These figures describe the study’s sample and reconstruction—not every ant species or lineage.
The team reports two patterns: ant lineages with more transposable elements tend to be the most species-rich today, and ancestors of major ant groups experienced separate activity bursts around the early Paleogene. The timing places those bursts near the period of ecological upheaval following the end-Cretaceous extinction. The findings are comparative genomic patterns and historical reconstructions, rather than direct observations of ancient ants.
What are transposable elements?
Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA sequences that can move to new positions or make copies of themselves within a genome. Their activity can alter genomes, including by affecting nearby genes or contributing to changes in gene families. That capacity makes them plausible sources of evolutionary change, though a TE’s presence does not automatically make an organism better adapted.
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How might jumping genes have helped ants diversify?
They may have contributed to gene-family expansion
The study links transposable elements with expansion of gene families involved in chemical communication, particularly odorant receptors. Ants rely on chemical cues for tasks such as navigation, recognizing nestmates, and coordinating activity within colonies. A larger or altered set of relevant genes could potentially support changes in how ants detect and use chemical signals.
The proposed link is not proof of new behaviors
The reported connection does not establish that transposable elements directly created a particular ant behavior, or that a specific receptor change caused colony success. It offers a plausible genomic pathway connecting mobile DNA, chemical-sensing genes, and the capacity for diversification. The study’s accessible summaries do not give enough detail to assess the full statistical evidence or competing explanations for these patterns.
How strong is the explanation?
It helps to separate the evidence from the interpretation:
- Reported patterns: the researchers found TE activity bursts in ancestors of major ant groups and an association between TE abundance and species-rich lineages.
- Proposed mechanism: the authors argue that TEs may have helped connect post-extinction ecological change to later ant diversification, potentially in part through chemical communication gene families.
- Unproven causal claim: the reported patterns do not show that TEs alone caused ants’ ecological success, or that ants were the only or inevitable winners after the extinction.
Schrader described TEs as “the genomic mechanism that connects these ecological upheavals to the subsequent rapid diversification of the ants.” That is the study lead’s interpretation of the results. The comparison supports a proposed contribution; establishing a direct causal chain from extinction to TE activity to ecological dominance requires more than the reported association and reconstructed timing.
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What the study does—and does not—explain
The University of Münster reported that more than 15,000 ant species live worldwide. The study offers a candidate explanation for how genomic change may have contributed to diversification in this exceptionally species-rich group. It does not show that the extinction made ant success inevitable, nor does it establish that one genetic mechanism accounts for the group’s full evolutionary history.
The paper, “Transposable Elements as Evolutionary Catalysts of Ant Macrodiversity,” was published in Science Advances in 2026. The University of Münster announced the findings on 24 September 2026. Its announcement notes support from the German Research Foundation (DFG).
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