An incredible image shared by one of the world’s leading evolutionary biologists and atheists has revealed a ‘cathedral’ built by termites.
Professor Richard Dawkins tweeted an eye-catching image of the spectacular structure, constructed with ‘no architect’ and ‘no blueprint, not even in DNA.’
The renowned scientist asked his followers to help him solve the mystery of exactly which species was behind the creation of the cathedral.
Now, the head of a British-based nature conservation charity has stepped forward to fill in the blanks over the insects responsible for the impressive mound.
A mystery posed by one of the world’s leading evolutionary biologists has been solved, thanks to social media. Professor Richard Dawkins shared an eye-catching image of a cathedral like structure, built by termites, to Twitter yesterday
The question of who built the mound arose after Dawkins tweeted an image with the caption: ‘This magnificent cathedral, photographed by Fiona Stewart in Queensland, was built by termites.
‘No architect (as Dan Dennett pointed out) no blueprint, not even in DNA.
‘They just followed local rules of thumb, like cells in an embryo. Please, does anyone know the genus/species?’
Matt Shardlow, CEO of Peterborough based Bugs Life, cleared up the question on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.
Speaking on the Today programme, Mr Shardlow said: ‘What we think has happened here is something quite unusual.
‘The colour of this termite mound is quite grey, which is very typical of the magnetic termite that lives in northern Australia, where this was photographed.
‘They build their big mounds along a north-south line, aligned with the magnetic poles.
‘What it looks like has happened with this particular colony has been damaged at some point, and those tall spires are the termite’s efforts to rebuild and get the height back within their colony as quickly as they can.’
The Cathedral-like mounds are built by two species of termite, ‘magnetic termites’ amitermes meridionalis and ‘cathedral termites’, nasutitermes triodiae.
The structures are made from a mixture of faeces, mud, and wood, which forms a robust, waterproof clay-like substance.
The termites live underground, which requires an oxygen supply, and the mounds work like an air conditioning system, funnelling air down to the colony below.
This also feeds the farms of fungi that the creatures nurture for nutrients.
They build huge mounds up to eight metres (26 ft) high in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland.
Now a prominent feature of the arid landscape ‘Down Under,’ the mounds house millions of termites.
Twitter users were quick to respond to the post, which had received over 1,000 retweets and almost 3,500 likes, at the time of publication.
Twitter users were quick to respond to Dawkin’s post, which had received over 1,000 retweets and almost 3,500 likes, at the time of publication
User Yexiang Xiao summed up many of the comments posted, when they said: ‘I’ve never seen anything so spectacular’
Yiannis giannarakis said: ‘It looks as work of the so called Cathedral Termites, Nasutitermes triodiae.’
Uuser Azulek backed up Mr Shardlow’s explanation, when he said: ‘A damaged Magnetic Termite, Amitermes meridionalis, mound. A bit like giving an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters!’
Yexiang Xiao said: ‘I’ve never seen anything so spectacular.’
Yiannis giannarakis said: ‘It looks as work of the so called Cathedral Termites, Nasutitermes triodiae.’
But user Azulek backed up Mr Shardlow’s explanation, when he said: ‘A damaged Magnetic Termite, Amitermes meridionalis, mound. Judging by the following photo it’s not like they haven’t had any practice.
‘A bit like giving an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters!’
Not everyone was convinced of Dawkins hinting that the colony refutes the idea of intelligent design.
In a University of Sydney study published in February, experts said the structures (left) are an incredible engineering feat. They argue that the mounds are even more impressive than the tallest man-made building on Earth, Dubai’s skyscraper the Burj Khalifa (right)
The Cathedral like structures are built by two species of termite, ‘magnetic termites’ amitermes meridionalis and ‘cathedral termites’, nasutitermes triodiae. This image shows mounds built by cathedral termites at Litchfield National Park in Australia’s Northern Territory
This image shows a single Magnetic Termite. The speices received its name as the insects build their big mounds along a north-south line, aligned with the magnetic poles
The question of who built the mound arose after Dawkins posted the picture to his followers. He asked ‘Please, does anyone know the genus/species?’
Alexander Seidel asked: ‘So those randomly evolved termites created this castle? Who, or what, “wrote” the rules of thumb?’
In a University of Sydney study published in February, experts said the structures are an incredible engineering feat.
They argue that the mounds are even more impressive than the tallest man-made building on Earth, Dubai’s skyscraper the Burj Khalifa.
Associate professor Nathan Lo, from the university’s school of life and environmental Sciences, said: ‘Given that a worker termite stands about 3mm (0.1 inch) in height, these mounds are in human terms the equivalent of four Burj Khalifas stacked on top of each other.’
DNA sequencing in the study found the insect’s forebearers, called nasute termites, colonised Australia three times in the past 20 million years or so.
They evolved from wood to grass-feeding as they adapted to significant environmental changes, including increasingly arid conditions and the conversion of woodlands to grassland habitats in subtropical savannas and central Australia.
The full findings of the research was published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.