If you thought that there were no farmers 25 million years ago, then think again. Farmers did exist, but they weren't your forefathers. They were tiny termites that conducted underground farming on a micro scale, and they produced a lot of fungi!
The descriptions of the farms are intriguing: "The fossil structures bore every hallmark of a prehistoric farm: Crops were arranged according to an intricate, complex plan. Material for harvesting littered the ground. Analysis revealed that the crop was a species that only grows when cultivated."
Eric Roberts of James Cook University, along with researchers from Ohio, found the most ancient "fungus gardens" in 25 million-year-old fossil termite nests, East Africa. They exposed cliff sides in the Rukwa Rift Basin of southwestern Tanzania. They are the most ancient real evidence of agriculture.
"The origin of this behaviour likely had a profound effect on how nutrients were concentrated across the landscape, influencing the evolution of Africa's biota," study co-author Nancy Stevens of Ohio University said.
Hence, some termite species turned plant material into easily digestible food sources. These modern termites showed DNA samples revealing that the fungus farming began 25 to 30 million years ago. Some evidence from Tanzania strengthened the belief of the date and also enabled researchers to document the evolution and timing of the symbiotic relationship between the insects as well their produce, the fungi. Both of them existed in an "obligate symbiotic relationship", that is, neither can exist without the other.
As termites consume and digest 90 percent of wood in a dry environment, it would benefit us if we gain "knowledge of the history of carbon cycling in this region," according to Program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Geosciences, Paul Filmer.
Wageningen University in the Netherlands researcher Duur Aanen said that the termite's farming process was similar to human farmlands that evolved after millions of years. The "fungus agriculture" expanded the habitats for termites as well as "domesticated fungi."
As termite agriculture expanded in the African rainforest, fungi culture enabled the termites to expand globally, even to less hospitable regions, and even to Asia.
"This study emphasises the need for integrating perspectives from the fossil record with modern approaches in comparative biology -- it's a holistic approach to evolutionary biology and increases our understanding of environmental change in 'deep time," said scientist Patrick O'Connor of Ohio University.
The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.
