When Ants Domesticated Fungi

While we’ve been farming for around 10,000 to 12,000 years, the ancestors of ants have been doing it for around 60 million years. So when, and how, and why did ants start … farming? Thanks to Franz Anthony () for the excellent ant reconstruction featured in this episode! ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to ***** Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios Super special thanks to the following Patreon patrons for helping make Eons possible: Sam & Matt, Kyle Brown, Stephen Patterson, Mark Foster, Sophie Parsons, Karen Farrell, Trevor Long, Brett Clark, Raphael Haase, Lyndsey McGill, daniel blankstein, Roberto Adrian Ramirez Flores, Jason Rostoker, Jonathan Rust, Avery Sanford, Mary Tevington, Bart & Elke van Iersel - De Jong, Kip Obenauf, William Craig II, Tracey, James Dowling-Healey, Irene Wood, Derek Helling, WilCatRhClPPh33, Mark Talbott-Williams, Nomi Alchin, Eric Roberto Rodriguez, Hillary Ryde-Collins, Yu Mei, Dan Ritter, 4th_phase, Jayme Coyle, Oscar Amoros Huguet, Patrick Wells, Aziza Ashling, Stephanie Tan, Nick Ryhajlo, Sean Dennis, Ben Cooper, Robert Noah, Matt Parker, Heathe Kyle Yeakley, Jerrit Erickson, Anton Bryl, MissyElliottSmith, Stefan Weber, Merri Snaidman, Gabriel Cortez, Marcus Lejon, Todd Dittman, Betsy Radley, Philip Slingerland, John Vanek, Eric Vonk, Jon Monteiro, James Bording, Miles Chaston, Michael, McClellan, Jeff Graham, Daisuke Goto, Gregory Kintz, Chandler Bass, Tsee Lee, Robert Hill If you’d like to support the channel, head over to and pledge for some cool rewards! Want to follow Eons elsewhere on the internet? Facebook - Twitter - Instagram - References: