Post K-Pg rise in ant and termite prevalence underlies convergent dietary specialization in mammals

Ants and termites are ubiquitous members of most modern terrestrial ecosystems. These insects act as agents of selection, driving ecological and evolutionary shifts in disparate groups across the tree of life. Obligate consumers of ants or termites, called myrmecophages, exhibit morphological adaptations such as lengthened tongues and reduced teeth that are associated with a bulk feeding strategy. Though a typifying feature of some mammal lineages, the macroevolutionary history of obligate myrmecophagy and its relationship to social insect evolution is unknown. We report large-scale patterns of myrmecophagous evolution through a synthesis of the social insect fossil record, ant and termite evolutionary history, and mammal natural history data spanning 4,099 species. Specialized ant and termite feeding has arisen at least 12 times in mammals and through multiple pathways; transitions to myrmecophagy stem from insectivorous and carnivorous ancestors. We recover one reversal out of social ..., , # Post K-Pg rise in ant and termite prevalence underlies convergent dietary specialization in mammals

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.5dv41nsht](10.5061/dryad.5dv41nsht)

## Description of the data and file structure

DATA MINING

We gathered data for mammal diets and social insect colony sizes from published natural history observations. These diet and colony size data are housed in Supplemental_Data_1_MammalDiet.xlsx and Supplemental_Data_2_ColonySize.xls with relevant references. Pared down, csv formatted input data were derived from these datasets and analyzed along with published phylogenetic tree data.

### Files and variables

#### File: R\_code\_R\_data.zip

**Description:** An archive comprising all input data and relevant code necessary to recreate results. 

`Ant_ColonySize.csv` – a simplified CSV file of ant colony size data derived from Supplemental_Data_2_ColonySize.xls.

`Borowiec_etal_Dated.tre` – a published genus-level phylogeny of ants from Borowiec et al. 2025.

`FullyC...,

蚂蚁与白蚁是多数现代陆地生态系统中广布的类群。这类昆虫作为选择压力的介导者，驱动了生命之树中不同类群的生态与演化变迁。专性取食蚂蚁或白蚁的类群被称为蚁食性生物（myrmecophages），它们演化出诸如延长的舌、退化的牙齿等形态适应性特征，与批量取食的取食策略相契合。尽管专性蚁食性是部分哺乳动物支系的典型特征，但专性蚁食性的宏观演化历史，以及其与社会性昆虫演化的关联仍未明确。我们通过整合社会性昆虫化石记录、蚂蚁与白蚁的演化历史，以及涵盖4099个物种的哺乳动物自然历史数据，揭示了蚁食性演化的宏观模式。专性取食蚁类的食性在哺乳动物中至少独立起源12次，且存在多条演化路径；向蚁食性的转变均起源于食虫或食肉的祖先类群。我们还发现了一次社会性...
# 白垩纪-古近纪（K-Pg）灭绝事件后蚂蚁与白蚁种群丰度的提升驱动了哺乳动物食性的趋同特化

数据集DOI: [10.5061/dryad.5dv41nsht](10.5061/dryad.5dv41nsht)

## 数据与文件结构说明

### 数据挖掘
我们从已发表的自然史观测资料中收集了哺乳动物食性与社会性昆虫种群规模的数据。这些食性与种群规模数据分别存储于Supplemental_Data_1_MammalDiet.xlsx与Supplemental_Data_2_ColonySize.xls，并附有相关参考文献。我们从上述数据集提取精简后的CSV格式输入数据，并结合已发表的系统发育树数据开展分析。

#### 文件与变量

##### 文件：R_code_R_data.zip
**描述：** 包含所有用于复现研究结果的输入数据与相关代码的归档文件。
`Ant_ColonySize.csv` —— 从Supplemental_Data_2_ColonySize.xls提取的精简版蚂蚁种群规模数据CSV文件。
`Borowiec_etal_Dated.tre` —— Borowiec等人2025年发表的蚂蚁属级时间校准系统发育树。
`FullyC...,