The ant Aphaenogaster dlusskyana sp. nov. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the Sakhalin amber—the earliest described species of an extant genus of Myrmicinae
- Authors: Radchenko A.G.1, Perkovsky E.E.1
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Affiliations:
- Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology
- Issue: Vol 50, No 9 (2016)
- Pages: 936-946
- Section: Article
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/0031-0301/article/view/166658
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030116090136
- ID: 166658
Cite item
Abstract
The earliest member of an extant ant genus of the subfamily Myrmicinae, Aphaenogaster dlusskyana sp. nov., from the Sakhalin amber (Russia, Middle Eocene, 43–47 Ma) is described. Fossil representatives of the genus Aphaenogaster are critically analyzed and it is proposed to transfer many of these to the fossil morphotaxon Paraphaenogaster. The morphology, distribution, and possible evolutionary trends of the genus Aphaenogaster are reviewed and it is suggested that this genus appeared in the territory currently occupied by the Palearctic not later than the Early Eocene (over 50 Ma). Aphaenogaster dlusskyana can be considered the oldest described representative of an extant genus of the subfamily Myrmicinae, although earlier, as yet undescribed, records of extant genera of Myrmicinae belong to the Early Eocene.
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About the authors
A. G. Radchenko
Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology
Author for correspondence.
Email: rad@izan.kiev.ua
Ukraine, ul. Bogdana Khmel’nitskogo 15, Kiev, 01601
E. E. Perkovsky
Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology
Email: rad@izan.kiev.ua
Ukraine, ul. Bogdana Khmel’nitskogo 15, Kiev, 01601