CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Scientists in South Africa have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are more than 30,000 years old, meaning they are the oldest known active termite hills.
Some of the mounds near the Buffels River in Namaqualand were estimated by radiocarbon dating to be 34,000 years old, according to the researchers from Stellenbosch University.'We knew they were old, but not that old,' said Michele Francis, senior lecturer in the university's department of soil science who led the study. Her paper was published in May.
Some of the biggest mounds — known locally as 'heuweltjies,' which means little hills in the Afrikaans language — measure around 100 feet across. The termite nests are as deep as 10 feet underground.Researchers needed to carefully excavate parts of the mounds to take samples, and the termites went into 'emergency mode' and started filling in the holes, Francis said.The team fully reconstructed the mounds to keep the termites safe from predators like aardvarks.
Oldest Inhabited Termite Mounds Have Been Active For 34 000 Years
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