Researchers from the United States, Germany and Brazil have recently unveiled a new ant species, which appears to be the oldest one on Earth. Approximately 120 million years old.

Christian Rabeling, who graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, is the man behind the Amazon rainforest discovery. He and his colleagues have named the species Martialis heureka, which is translated as “From Mars! Wow!”

The name of the genus started as a joke that had at its core the researchers’ surprise at the ant’s appearance. The specimen they uncovered has an approximate length of 1/10th of an inch, a long, thin jaw and no eyes.

Several DNA tests have been carried out, leading the scientists to believe that this new species is the most primitive of all the ants living today, occupying a place at the very base of the ant family tree.

"It's by far the most spectacular find of my 26-year career," stated museum biologist Manfred Verhaagh on Tuesday.

Scientists from Karlsruhe’s Natural History Museum found a similar ant specimen back in 2003 in about the same area, but because of an accident that took place in the laboratory, the insect dried up, thwarting any further research.

The researchers are very enthusiastic about their discovery, and, in order to give the general public the true measure of the finding, they have pointed out that the last new ant species was discovered back in 1923.

This only goes to show that soils are vastly unexplored and might not only be house to many a yet to be discovered species, but also to relict ones that could have preserved features from early evolutionary times, scientists informed.