Ants began farming fungi 66 million years ago, after an asteroid strike wiped out the dinosaurs

Colonies of ants began farming the organisms after the event created ideal conditions for them to thrive, despite causing global mass extinction.

Ants began farming fungi around 66 million years ago, shortly after an asteroid hit Earth and caused a mass extinction event, according to new research.

The study, published in the journal Science, also found that it took nearly another 40 million years for ants to then develop higher agriculture, where they began to domesticate fungi in a similar way that humans domesticated crops.

Researchers say many animals have been growing their own food since long before humans existed.

Ants are known to be skilled farmers, and some species even practice higher agriculture, where they grow their own food and tend to it like a farmer would tend to crops.

These ants, known as leafcutter ants, harvest bits of fresh vegetation to provide sustenance for their fungi, which in turn grow food for the ants.

Ted Schultz, curator of ants at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, USA, and the lead author, said: “Ants have been practicing agriculture and fungus farming for much longer than humans have existed.

“We could probably learn something from the agricultural success of these ants over the past 66 million years.”

The study, which also involved researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and the University of Texas at Austin, USA, also shed light on how the asteroid impact helped to pave the way for ants to become farmers.

The asteroid impact filled the atmosphere with dust and debris, which blocked out the sun and prevented photosynthesis for years, wiping out roughly half of all plant species on the planet.

However, this time was ideal for fungi, with some thriving as they consumed the plentiful dead plant material littering the ground.

According to the researchers, many of the fungi that grew during this time likely feasted on decaying leaf litter, bringing them into close contact with ants.

These insects harnessed the plentiful fungi for food and continued to rely on it as life rebounded from the extinction event.

Dr Schultz added: “Extinction events can be huge disasters for most organisms, but it can actually be positive for others.

“At the end of Cretaceous, dinosaurs did not do very well, but fungi experienced a heyday.”

He noted that while ants began using fungi 66 million years ago, they did not begin higher agriculture until around 25 million years ago.

When ants took fungi out of the wet forests and into drier areas, the isolated fungi became completely reliant on ants to survive in the arid conditions, with the ants essentially domesticating these fungi in the same way that humans domesticated crops.