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Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Miocene Ethiopian amber: filling gaps in the geological record of African terrestrial biota.
- Source :
- Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society; Oct2022, Vol. 196 Issue 2, p775-791, 17p
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- The Early Miocene (16–23 Mya) amber of Ethiopia constitutes a new source of fossil ants for Africa, where they are otherwise poorly documented. Here we report a diversified assemblage of six subfamilies and at least 19 genera that are still predominantly alive in the Afrotropics today. In this first account, a particular reference is made to the subfamily Dolichoderinae, with the description of two new species: Technomyrmex svojtkai Perrichot & Engel sp. nov. and Ravavy goldmani Boudinot & Perrichot sp. nov. The first is illustrated and described based on synchrotron-radiation microcomputed tomography, and the second represents the first fossil record for the tribe Bothriomyrmecini and Ravavy , a Malagasy and Afrotropical genus that was hitherto monotypic. The ant composition in Ethiopian amber is congruent with the global pattern emerging across ants and showing a Neogene diversification almost exclusively within extant genera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- ANTS
MIOCENE Epoch
HYMENOPTERA
AMBER
BIOTIC communities
FOSSILS
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00244082
- Volume :
- 196
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 159553262
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac053