Phillip Barden, lead author of the study and an assistant professor at New Jersey Institute of Technology's Department of Biological Sciences, said in a press statement that fossilized behavior such as that of the hell ant's is "exceedingly rare.".
The only way for prey to be captured in such an arrangement is for the ant mouthparts to move up and downward in a direction unlike that of all living ants and nearly all insects.".
The first hell ant was discovered roughly 100 years ago, Barden added, and since then, "it's been a mystery" why they are so different from more modern ant species.
Barden tweeted news of the discovery on Thursday, saying these hell ants are "unlike any modern ants" and that the discovery was something they "never would have expected.".
Big #HellAnt news today @CurrentBiology: fossilized predation confirms hell ant mandibles functioned unlike any living species.
So far, scientists have identified 16 species of hell ants, and the latest discovery is not the most frightening to date
Now, the scientists are using this latest discovery to find out what biological traits may allow modern ants to flourish in the future, and to remind people that even the smallest creatures face extinction
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