Scientists in South Africa have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are 34,000 years old, meaning they are the oldest known active termite hills. The mounds existed while saber-toothed cats and woolly mammoths roamed other parts of the Earth and large swathes of Europe and Asia were covered in ice. They predate some of the earliest cave paintings in Europe. Evidence shows they have been consistently inhabited by termite colonies. The researchers urge more study of termite mounds for the lessons they offer on climate change, sustaining ecosystems and perhaps even for improving agricultural practices.
