If you’re the type of person who gets squeamish about insects, then this story might not be for you.
Scientists have recently discovered some ancient termite mounds in northeastern Brazil. How ancient you ask? Analyses of soil samples from some of the mounds indicate that they may be as “young” as 690-years-old to as old as 3,820-years old. And the Brazilian government should try to get some rent money out of the critters, because they’re taking up a lot of space. Apparently, the nesting grounds is roughly as big as the entirety of Great Britain.
The mounds themselves are over 8 feet tall and 30 feet wide. These mounds cover nearly 90,000 square miles of land. This sounds like something out of a horror story, or a ‘Twilight Zone’ episode, but apparently this is real. The mounds are so large, that when obscured, they can be seen from the depths of space. Not exactly the scenic orbital space viewing I had in mind, but it’s still quite impressive.
As it turns out, these mounds are not the nests of the resident termites, but rather the aftermath of these insects’ excavation endeavors. This is what the aftermath of 4,000 years of termite digging looks like. Part of the reason as to why it took so long for these mounds to be discovered is that they are largely obscured by the surrounding landscape. The area where these mounds are located is a quiet one, without much human life around, and was easily missed.
