By Will Dunham (Reuters) -Scientists have identified the fossilized remains of the oldest-known ant - a winged insect with fearsome scythe-like jaws that lived about 113 million years ago during the age of dinosaurs and was preserved in limestone unearthed in northeastern Brazil.

The fossil’s discovery in Brazil shows that ants have been around for longer than once thought. This insect impaled its prey with scythe-like jaws, scientists say.

Now, a team in Brazil has uncovered a 113-million-year-old hell ant that represents the oldest hell ant specimen known to science. The ant was preserved in limestone and is described in a study published April 24 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology.