Desert towers are fossil termite nests
More than 100 enormous sandstone pillars in a remote high desert area of 
New Mexico are in fact fossilized termite nests 155 million years old,
researchers will report Thursday at a meeting of the Geological 
Society of America.
The pillars, near Gallup, apparently were built during the Jurassic and
Cretaceous periods. The insects used saliva, feces and partly digested wood
to glue sand grains together. Inside the nests are complexes of trails and
compartments for living, raising the young and food storage.
Scientists have known about the pillars for decades but thought they were
glassy fusions of sand and rock formed by lightning and water flows 
millions of years ago. The pillars are up to 20 feet high and 6 feet in
diameter; some extend more than 120 feet below the ground, says Stephen
Hasiotis, University of Colorado at Boulder, who led the research. The height
may have served to protect the termites from carnivorous dinosaurs seeking
high-protein snacks.
 "(Termites) were and still are the most developed and elaborate architects
of the insect kingdom," Hasiotis says. These ancient nests are similar,
though less intricate, than nests found in hot, dry parts of Africa.
The oldest termite nest fossils, estimated to be 220 million years old,
were identified in Arizona.
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