Bees Found a Unique Home in Ancient Rodent Bones

In a surprising twist, scientists discovered that ancient bees had a peculiar nesting habit. They didn't build their homes in typical places like trees or flowers. Instead, they chose to nest inside the bones of dead rodents. This happened over 5, 000 years ago on the island of Hispaniola, which is now home to the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The bees didn't just pick any bones. They specifically chose hollow teeth and vertebrae of rodents called hutias. These rodents looked like a mix between a squirrel and a beaver. The bones were found in a cave, along with some bones from an extinct sloth. The bees didn't dig new tunnels. They found ready-made chambers in the bones that were just the right size for their nests. The bones had been in the cave for a long time before the bees arrived. Scientists think that an extinct species of barn owl, called Tyto ostologa, brought the bones there. The owl either carried the whole rodents into the cave or regurgitated pellets filled with bones. Over time, sediment covered these remains. Later, the bees moved in and made their nests.One tooth cavity had six separate nests stacked inside one another. This suggests that multiple generations of bees returned to the same spot. It's the first known example of bees nesting inside preexisting fossil cavities. It's also only the second documented case of burrowing bees nesting inside a cave. Why did the bees choose this cave? The surrounding landscape might have left them with few other options. The area is made of sharp, edgy limestone and has lost all of its natural soils. The cave itself was almost lost. After one of the team's final visits, plans surfaced to convert the site into a septic storage facility. The team had to go on a rescue mission to save as many fossils as possible. Those plans fell through, but the fossils were removed anyway. Many of the fossils remain unstudied. This means that the strange collaboration between bees, owls, and rodents may have more stories to tell.