6600万年前，小行星撞击恐龙灭绝后，蚂蚁开始种植真菌

尽管导致了全球大规模灭绝，但事件发生后，蚂蚁群开始养殖这些生物，为它们的繁衍生息创造了理想的条件。

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.

最新研究表明，大约 6600 万年前，小行星撞击地球并引发大规模灭绝事件后不久，蚂蚁就开始种植真菌。

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.

这项发表在《科学》杂志上的研究还发现，蚂蚁又花了近 4000 万年才发展出高等农业，它们开始以与人类驯化农作物类似的方式驯化真菌。

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

研究人员表示，早在人类出现之前，许多动物就已经开始自己种植食物了。

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.

众所周知，蚂蚁是熟练的农民，有些物种甚至从事高级农业，它们自己种植食物并像农民照料庄稼一样照料它。

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.

这些蚂蚁被称为切叶蚁，它们收获新鲜的植被为其真菌提供营养，而真菌又为蚂蚁种植食物。

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.

该研究的主要作者、美国史密森国家自然历史博物馆蚂蚁馆长特德·舒尔茨 (Ted Schultz) 表示：“蚂蚁从事农业和真菌种植的历史比人类存在的历史要长得多。

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

“我们或许可以从这些蚂蚁在过去 6600 万年的农业成功中学到一些东西。”

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.

这项研究还涉及美国加州大学伯克利分校和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的研究人员，也揭示了小行星撞击如何帮助蚂蚁成为农民铺平了道路。

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.

小行星撞击使大气中充满了灰尘和碎片，这些灰尘和碎片遮挡了阳光，并阻碍了光合作用多年，消灭了地球上大约一半的植物物种。

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

然而，这段时间对真菌来说是理想的时期，一些真菌因为消耗了散落在地上的大量死去的植物材料而茁壮成长。

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.

研究人员表示，这一时期生长的许多真菌可能以腐烂的落叶为食，使它们与蚂蚁有密切接触。

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

这些昆虫利用丰富的真菌作为食物，并在生命从灭绝事件中恢复过来时继续依赖它。

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

舒尔茨博士补充道：“灭绝事件对大多数生物体来说可能是巨大的灾难，但实际上对其他生物体来说可能是积极的。

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

“白垩纪末期，恐龙的表现并不好，但真菌却经历了鼎盛时期。”

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

他指出，虽然蚂蚁在 6600 万年前就开始使用真菌，但它们直到大约 2500 万年前才开始高级农业。

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.

当蚂蚁将真菌从潮湿的森林带到干燥的地区时，孤立的真菌就完全依赖蚂蚁在干旱条件下生存，而蚂蚁基本上就像人类驯化农作物一样驯化这些真菌。