Ancient termite poo reveals 120M-year-old secrets of Australia's forests

Summary

CT reconstructions of termite and mite coprolites. Credit: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.113059 Imagine a lush forest with tree-ferns, their trunks capped by ribbon-like fronds. Conifers tower overhead, bearing triangular leaves almost sharp enough to pierce skin. Flowering plants are both small and rare. You're standing in what is now Victoria, Australia, about 127 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous Period. Slightly to your south, a massive river—more than a kilometer wide—separates you from Tasmania. This river flows along the valley forming between Australia and Antarctica as the two continents begin to split apart. During the Early Cretaceous, southeastern Australia was some of the closest land to the South Pole. Here, the night lasted for three months in winter, contrasting with three months of daytime in summer. Despite this extreme day-night cycle, various kinds of dinosaurs still thrived here, as did flies, wasps and dragonflies. And, as our recently published research in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology reveals, termites also chewed through the decaying wood of fallen trees. This is the first record of termites living in a polar region—and their presence provides key insights into what these ancient forests were like. Home makers, not homewreckers Termites might have a public reputation as homewreckers. But these wood-eating bugs are a key part of many environments, freeing up nutrients contained in dead plants. They are one of the best organisms at breaking down large amounts of wood, and significantly speed up the decay of fallen wood in forests. The breakdown of wood by termites makes it easier for further consumption by other animals and fungi. Their role in ancient Victoria's polar forests would have been just as important, as the natural decay of wood is very slow in cold conditions. Although the cold winters would have slowed termites too, they may have thrived during ...