Originating most likely in the early Cretaceous, ants have diversified to become the world's
most successful eusocial insects, occupying most terrestrial ecosystems and acquiring a …

Ants are arguably the greatest success story in the history of terrestrial metazoa. On
average, ants monopolize 15–20% of the terrestrial animal biomass, and in tropical regions …

Ants are the world's most diverse and ecologically dominant eusocial organisms. Resolving
the phylogeny and timescale for major ant lineages is vital to understanding how they …

Since their origin about 120 million years ago (Mya), ants have evolved to become the most
species-rich and ecologically diverse group of social insects (Grimaldi and Engel 2005; …

Ants are the world's most conspicuous and important eusocial insects and their diversity,
abundance, and extreme behavioral specializations make them a model system for several …

Abstract Knowledge of the internal phylogeny and evolutionary history of ants (Formicidae),
the world's most species-rich clade of eusocial organisms, has dramatically improved since …

In the past two decades, studies of anatomy, behavior, and, most recently, DNA sequences
have clarified the phylogeny of the ants at the subfamily and generic levels. In addition, a …

The current state of ant systematics is reviewed. In recent years substantial progress has
been made in identifying the major clades of ants and the relationships among them. Earlier …

The ant fossil record is summarized with special reference to the earliest ants, first
occurrences of modern lineages, and the utility of paleontological data in reconstructing …

Molecular data have revolutionized our understanding of ant evolution and systematics by
making available large quantities of data and providing an independent character set to infer …