A video from Ants: Nature's Secret Power shows off the complicated, seemingly human abilities of non-human builders

This extraordinary video clip is from Ants: Nature's Secret Power, a documentary about the world of ants as seen through the eyes of Bert Hölldobler, ant authority and E.O. Wilson collaborator.

Concrete was poured into an giant underground ant megalopolis, which acts as a mold. After the concrete hardened, scientists carefully excavated it to reveal the structure of the ant's elaborate "city-state":

Everything looks like it has been designed by﻿ an architect, a single mind, but of course that isn't true. This colossal and complex city was created by the collective will of the colony, the super organism.

It's kind of grown-up reverse ant farm.

Video link here. View entire video here.

via SwissMiss



This post also appears on The Improvised Life.

Image: Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters