In Speculative Evolution, we envisioned how species could be further developed to increase their resilience based on scientific publications on synthetic biology, genetic engineering and robotics, and formulated text prompts to create AI-generated images using DALL-E. As a result, each speculative species in the environment has a backstory rooted in real-life scenarios.

Clonal Raider Ants | |
2017 | genetically modified to provide key clues as to how social behavior evolves Laboratory research by Kronauer, 2017 |
2054 | genetically modified to enhance their sociality through their sense of smell and body movements |
Lineage of the 100 species from a total of 160
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Zurich, Switzerland (1-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Zurich, Switzerland (1-1-1)
, Android 11, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1-1-1-1)
, Android 11, Alor Star, Malaysia (1-1-1-1-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Zurich, Switzerland (1-2)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Zurich, Switzerland (1-2-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Zurich, Switzerland (1-3)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Zurich, Switzerland (1-3-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Zurich, Switzerland (1-4)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Zurich, Switzerland (1-4-1)
Samsung A307G, Android 11, Presidente Derqui, Argentina (1-46)
Samsung A307G, Android 11, Presidente Derqui, Argentina (1-46-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Zurich, Switzerland (1-5)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Zurich, Switzerland (1-5-1)
, Android 11, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1-5-1-1)
, Android 11, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1-5-1-1)
, Android 11, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1-5-1-1)
, Android 10, Lagos, Nigeria (1-5-3)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-5-4)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Zurich, Switzerland (1-6)
, Android 11, , United States (1-6-1)
Samsung T720, Android 11, Del Viso, Argentina (1-6-1-1)
Samsung T720, Android 11, Pilar, Argentina (1-6-1-1-1)
Samsung T720, Android 11, Jose C. Paz, Argentina (1-6-1-1-1-1)
, Android 14, Porto, Portugal (1-6-1-1-1-1-1)
, Android 12, Guernica, Argentina (1-6-1-1-1-1-1-1)
Huawei CRT-L33, Android 12, , Colombia (1-6-1-1-1-1-1-1-1)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-6-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-6-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-6-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1)
, Android 12, Chengdu, China (1-6-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2)
, Android 11, Porto, Portugal (1-6-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-1)
, Android 13, Bila Tserkva, Ukraine (1-6-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2)
Samsung P613, Android 14, Sneedville, United States (1-6-1-1-1-1-2)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-6-1-1-1-1-2-1)
, Android 11, Malabon, Philippines (1-6-1-1-2)
, Android 11, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1-6-1-2)
, Android 13, Statesville, United States (1-6-1-2-1)
Samsung A325F, Android 12, Boardman, United States (1-6-1-2-1-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Berlin, Germany (1-6-2)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, , China (1-6-3)
Samsung S901B, Android 14, Stuttgart, Germany (1-7)
Samsung N981U, Android 13, Tampa, United States (1-7-1)
, Android 11, Srbobran, Serbia (1-7-1-1)
, Android 12, Barcelona, Spain (1-7-1-1-1)
, Android 11, Sorocaba, Brazil (1-7-1-1-1-1)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-7-1-1-1-1-1)
Samsung P613, Android 14, Myrtle Beach, United States (1-7-1-1-1-1-1-1)
Samsung N960U1, Android 10, Auckland, New Zealand (1-7-1-1-1-1-1-1-1)
Samsung A127F, Android 13, Naaldwijk, The Netherlands (1-7-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1)
, Android 10, , China (1-7-1-1-1-1-2)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-7-1-1-1-2)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-7-1-1-1-2-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Berlin, Germany (1-7-2)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-7-3)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-7-3-1)
, Android 11, , United States (1-8)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-8-1)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-8-2)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Limassol, Cyprus (1-8-2-1)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, , China (1-8-2-2)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, , China (1-8-2-2-1)
Samsung G986U1, Android 13, Monterrey, Mexico (1-8-2-2-1-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-8-2-2-2)
Samsung G986U1, Android 13, Monterrey, Mexico (1-8-2-3)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Schaffhausen, Switzerland (1-8-3)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, Xi'an, China (1-8-3-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-8-3-2)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-8-3-3)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, , China (1-8-4)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-8-4-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-8-5)
, Android 13, Porto Velho, Brazil (1-9)
Samsung G980F, Android 13, Barranquilla, Colombia (1-9-1)
Samsung G990E, Android 14, Gravataí, Brazil (1-9-1-1)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-9-1-1-1)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, Schaffhausen, Switzerland (1-9-1-1-1-1)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, Schaffhausen, Switzerland (1-9-1-1-1-1)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, Schaffhausen, Switzerland (1-9-1-1-1-1)
Samsung G950F, Android 9, São Paulo, Brazil (1-9-1-3)
Samsung A356E, Android 14, Santiago, Chile (1-9-1-3-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-9-1-3-1-1)
Samsung G986U1, Android 13, Monterrey, Mexico (1-9-1-3-1-1-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-9-1-3-1-2)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-9-1-3-1-3)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, Xi'an, China (1-9-1-3-1-4)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, Xi'an, China (1-9-1-3-1-4-1)
Samsung N975F, Android 12, Barranquilla, Colombia (1-9-1-3-1-4-1-1)
Samsung G986U1, Android 13, Monterrey, Mexico (1-9-1-3-1-4-2)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, Xi'an, China (1-9-1-3-2)
Samsung G955U, Android 9, Xi'an, China (1-9-1-4)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-9-1-4-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-9-1-4-2)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-9-1-4-2-1)
, Android 11, São Paulo, Brazil (1-9-2)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-9-2-1)
Samsung A055M, Android 14, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1-9-2-1-1)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-9-3)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-9-4)
Samsung G955F, Android 9, Lucerne, Switzerland (1-9-4-1)
Transcriptomics and neuroanatomy of the clonal raider ant implicate an expanded clade of odorant receptors in chemical communication
Sean K. McKenzie, Ingrid Fetter-Pruneda, Vanessa Ruta, and Daniel J. C. Kronauer
https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1610800113
Abstract
A major aim of sociogenomic research is to uncover common principles in the molecular evolution of sociality. This endeavor has been hampered by the small number of specific genes currently known to function in social behavior. Here we provide several lines of evidence suggesting that ants have evolved a large and novel clade of odorant receptor (OR) genes to perceive hydrocarbon-based pheromones, arguably the most important signals in ant communication. This genomic expansion is also mirrored in the ant brain via a corresponding expansion of a specific cluster of glomeruli in the antennal lobe. We show that in the clonal raider ant, hydrocarbon-sensitive basiconic sensilla are found only on the ventral surface of the female antennal club. Correspondingly, nearly all genes in a clade of 180 ORs within the 9-exon subfamily of ORs are expressed exclusively in females and are highly enriched in expression in the ventral half of the antennal club. Furthermore, we found that across species and sexes, the number of 9-exon ORs expressed in antennae is tightly correlated with the number of glomeruli in the antennal lobe region innervated by odorant receptor neurons from basiconic sensilla. Evolutionary analyses show that this clade underwent a striking gene expansion in the ancestors of all ants and slower but continued expansion in extant ant lineages. This evidence suggests that ants have evolved a large clade of genes to support pheromone perception and that gene duplications have played an important role in the molecular evolution of ant communication.
Clonal raider ants antennate each other, tapping each other with the ventral surface of their antennal club.