Researchers Estimate , Ants Outnumber Humans , 2.5 Million to One.<br />Scientists now estimate that <br />the global population of ants <br />is a staggering 20 quadrillion.<br />'The Guardian' reports that means <br />there are approximately 2.5 million <br />ants for every single human.<br />The ant has thrived since the age of the dinosaur.<br />The oldest-known ant fossil dates back <br />to about 100 million years, at a time <br />known as the Cretaceous period.<br />Ants certainly play a very central role <br />in almost every terrestrial ecosystem, Patrick Schultheiss, Co-author and entomologist <br />at the University of Würzburg in Germany and <br />the University of Hong Kong, via 'The Guardian'.<br />The world is home to over 12,000 known <br />species of ants, which range in size from <br />about 1 millimeter to about 1.2 inches long. .<br />They exist everywhere on the planet, <br />except in Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland <br />and a few island nations.<br />The ant's closest relatives are bees and wasps. .<br />The team's work was published in the journal <br />'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.'.<br />Ants are so essential for the smooth working of biological processes that they can be seen as ecosystem engineers, Patrick Schultheiss, Co-author and entomologist <br />at the University of Würzburg in Germany and <br />the University of Hong Kong, via 'The Guardian'.<br />The late ant scientist E.O. Wilson once called them ’the little things that run the world’, Patrick Schultheiss, Co-author and entomologist <br />at the University of Würzburg in Germany and <br />the University of Hong Kong, via 'The Guardian'.<br />The late ant scientist E.O. Wilson once called them ’the little things that run the world’, Patrick Schultheiss, Co-author and entomologist <br />at the University of Würzburg in Germany and <br />the University of Hong Kong, via 'The Guardian'
