The Ant with Metal in Its Mandibles
Animals are made mostly out of water, and of complex molecules centered around carbon atoms. But they also contain a surprising range of other substances, which give their parts useful special properties.
The mandibles of ants are incredibly sharp and durable cutting tools. Leaf-cutting ants live in the tropics and cut the leaves of plants into tiny pieces with their razor-sharp mandibles. They take the pieces back to their anthill to cultivate a nutritious fungus. When the ants are threatened, those same tiny but powerful mandibles can easily slice and puncture human skin.
Ant mandibles and…
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