title: Oligocene Termite Nests with In Situ Fungus Gardens from the Rukwa Rift Basin, Tanzania, Support a Paleogene African Origin for Insect Agriculture.
abstract: Based on molecular dating, the origin of insect agriculture is hypothesized to have taken place independently in three clades of fungus-farming insects: the termites, ants or ambrosia beetles during the Paleogene (66-24 Ma). Yet, definitive fossil evidence of fungus-growing behavior has been elusive, with no unequivocal records prior to the late Miocene (7-10 Ma). Here we report fossil evidence of insect agriculture in the form of fossil fungus gardens, preserved within 25 Ma termite nests from southwestern Tanzania. Using these well-dated fossil fungus gardens, we have recalibrated molecular divergence estimates for the origins of termite agriculture to around 31 Ma, lending support to hypotheses suggesting an African Paleogene origin for termite-fungus symbiosis; perhaps coinciding with rift initiation and changes in the African landscape.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Oceans, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811 Australia.
authors.forename: Eric M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Oceans, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811 Australia.
authors.forename: Christopher N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, Radix West, Building 107, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Duur K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Aanen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mediterranean Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (ICAAM), Universidade de Évora, Núcleo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal.
authors.forename: Tânia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nobre
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Oceans, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811 Australia.
authors.forename: Hannah L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Hilbert-Wolf
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, 45701, United States of America.|Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, 45701, United States of America.
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences and Idaho Museum of Natural History, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, 83209, United States of America.
authors.forename: Leif
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tapanila
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Oceans, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811 Australia.|Department of Geology, University of Dar es Salaam, P.O. Box 35052, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Cassy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mtelela
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, 45701, United States of America.|Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, 45701, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nancy J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Stevens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002138:Calibration; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005580:Fossils; D005658:Fungi / Q000502:physiology*; D020049:Isoptera / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D013636:Tanzania; D013997:Time Factors