eastiseverywhere:ultrafacts:Gold-digging ant is an animal from Medieval bestiaries. They were dog- o

eastiseverywhere:ultrafacts:Gold-digging ant is an animal from Medieval bestiaries. They were dog- or fox-sized ants that dug up gold in sandy areas. Some versions of the Physiologus said they came from Ethiopia, while Herodotus claimed they were located in India.In Histories (Book 3, passages 102 to 105) Herodotus reports that a species of fox-sized, furry “ants” lives in one of the far eastern, Indian provinces of the Persian Empire. This region, he reports, is a sandy desert, and the sand there contains a wealth of fine gold dust. These giant ants, according to Herodotus, would often unearth the gold dust when digging their mounds and tunnels, and the people living in this province would then collect the precious dust.French ethnologist Michel Peissel claims that the Himalayan marmot on the Deosai Plateau in Gilgit–Baltistan province of Pakistan, may have been what Herodotus called giant “ants”. Much like the province that Herodotus describes, the ground of the Deosai Plateau is rich in gold dust. Peissel interviewed the Minaro tribal people who live in the Deosai Plateau, and they have confirmed that they have, for generations, collected the gold dust that the marmots bring to the surface when digging burrows. The story was widespread in the ancient world and later authors like Pliny the Elder mentioned it in his gold mining section of the Naturalis Historia.Herodotus may have confused because he probably did not know any Persian and thus relied on local translators when travelling in the Persian Empire. Herodotus never claimed to have seen the “ant/marmot” creatures, he simply reported what other travelers told him.(Fact Source) For more facts, follow Ultrafacts One of my favourite ultrafacts evar. :)HOLY CRAP STOP THE PRESSES THIS IS A THING WHY DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS BEFORE THIS VERY MOMENT?!?!?!1112 -- source link

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