Termite fossils date from about 130 million years ago, but they probably evolved much earlier from a primitive, wood-eating, roachlike ancestor. There are about 2,000 termite species divided among five families. Four of the families are considered primitive or lower termites because, like their primitive wood-eating roach relatives, they harbor symbiotic protozoa in the hindgut that digest cellulose. Without these protozoans, the termites would starve to death. The higher termite family,... więcej

Salem Press Encyclopedia of Science, 2023. 2p.