The asteroid that ended the age of dinosaurs about 66 million years ago now shows up twice in the story of how ants came to dominate the planet. A genome study in Science Advances finds bursts of "jumping gene" activity in major ant lineages shortly after the impact, matching earlier Smithsonian research that dated the start of ant fungus farming to the same moment.

Read together, the two studies describe a single catastrophe opening several evolutionary doors at once — one line of evidence comes from the ants' own DNA. The other comes from the fungi they learned to grow.

The research also touches the ants under our feet today. The lead author of the new study has spent years showing that the same mobile DNA helps at least one invasive ant species adapt quickly to new environments, a link that makes the ancient story relevant to modern pest and conservation questions.

A Second Line of Evidence at the Same Boundary

In October 2024, Smithsonian entomologist Ted Schultz and colleagues reported in Science that ants began farming fungi around 66 million years ago, using genetic data from 475 fungus species and 276 ant species. The impact interrupted photosynthesis and killed vast amounts of plant life, conditions that favored fungi that feed on decaying material. "Extinction events can be huge disasters for most organisms, but it can actually be positive for others," Schultz said in the Smithsonian's release.

The new study, led by Lukas Schrader of the University of Münster's Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, approaches the same period from inside the genome. The team compared genomes from 163 ant species spanning 12 of the 16 living ant subfamilies and reconstructed transposable element activity over roughly 100 million years, according to the University of Münster.

Transposable elements, often called jumping genes, are DNA sequences that can copy themselves and move to new positions in a genome. Scientists long treated them as genomic parasites. Many now see them as a source of raw material for evolutionary change, because each insertion can disrupt, duplicate or rewire nearby genes.

Jumping Genes and the Chemistry of Colony Life

The researchers found independent bursts of jumping-gene activity in the ancestors of the largest ant groups during the early Paleogene, shortly before those groups diversified into thousands of species. Today, the lineages carrying the most transposable elements also tend to have the most living species, ScienceDaily reported.

"The asteroid impact had dramatic consequences for the environment," Schrader said. His team argues that the mobile DNA is the genomic link between that upheaval and the rapid diversification that followed.

The study also connects the bursts to the expansion of odorant receptor gene families. Ants navigate, recognize nestmates and coordinate colonies almost entirely by smell, so more receptor genes could have meant more ways to detect and interpret chemical signals. Similar bursts of jumping-gene activity have been reported during periods of rapid speciation in primates and bats, the university said.

From Ancient Bursts to Modern Invasions

Schrader's earlier work offers a modern parallel. In a 2014 study in Nature Communications, he and colleagues found that the invasive tramp ant Cardiocondyla obscurior carries clusters of transposable elements, called TE islands, that evolve faster than the rest of its genome. The team concluded those regions help explain how a genetically limited founding population can still adapt to new habitats.

That matters because invasive ants are costly. Species such as the red imported fire ant have spread across the southern United States, where they damage crops, sting people and pets, and outcompete native insects. The new study does not test invasive species, and it would be a stretch to say jumping genes explain any single invasion. But it strengthens the case that mobile DNA is a recurring tool ants use when environments change quickly.

The ecological stakes run in both directions. Ants aerate soil, disperse seeds, recycle nutrients, and serve as food for birds and other wildlife. Understanding what helped them recover from a mass extinction offers a rare long-term view of how biodiversity rebounds after a global shock.

Gaps in the Genomic Timeline

The findings come with clear limits — the new study shows an association between jumping-gene activity and species richness, not proof that the elements caused ants to diversify. Its timeline is reconstructed from living genomes rather than read directly from fossils, and four living ant subfamilies were not sampled.

The study type is a comparative genomic analysis, peer-reviewed and published in Science Advances, funded by the German Research Foundation with no industry funding reported. It found a pattern linking more transposable elements to more species and bursts of activity after the impact. It did not identify the specific genetic changes that produced new species, and it does not change any household pest-control guidance.

The fungus-farming research faces its own uncertainties, since molecular clocks carry error margins of millions of years. Still, two independent approaches, one tracking ant DNA and one tracking their crops, now point to the same window. Nature World News previously reported on the 163-genome analysis in its earlier coverage of the jumping-gene bursts. The next steps researchers describe include linking individual insertions to specific receptor genes and testing whether similar bursts appear in other insect groups that thrived after the impact.

What Readers Want to Know

What did the new ant study find? Across 163 ant genomes, lineages with the most jumping genes have the most living species, and major lineages showed bursts of jumping-gene activity shortly after the asteroid impact about 66 million years ago.

What are jumping genes? They are transposable elements, DNA sequences that can copy themselves and move within a genome, sometimes changing how nearby genes work.

How does fungus farming fit into the story? A 2024 Smithsonian study found ants began farming fungi around 66 million years ago, when the impact created conditions that favored fungi.

Did jumping genes cause ants to diversify? The study shows an association, not proof of cause. The researchers say the elements may have contributed, especially through expanded smell-related genes.

Does this research help with invasive ants? Not directly. Separate work by the lead author shows jumping genes help one invasive ant species adapt quickly, but the new study did not test invasive species.

Does this change how I should handle ants at home? No. The findings do not change any pest-control guidance.