TY - JOUR

T1 - Beauty or the Beast? A Puzzling Modification of the Clypeus and Mandibles on the Eocene Ant

AU - Жарков, Дмитрий Михайлович

AU - Дубовиков, Дмитрий Александрович

AU - Абакумов, Евгений Васильевич

PY - 2025/8/1

Y1 - 2025/8/1

N2 - Some Cretaceous ants belonging to the stem group of Formicidae exhibit bizarre morphology. This wide range of unusual adaptive features is primarily related to the mouthparts and clypeus. The researchers were perplexed by their specific ecology, as modern ant lineages do not exhibit anything similar. Here, we report and describe a new genus based on an extraordinary and mysterious alate ant from Late Eocene Baltic amber. Undoubtedly, the new ant is classified within the subfamily Formicinae (one of the crown groups), yet it displays a highly specialised morphology and an unusual array of features that are not observed in any extant ant lineages. Neither recent nor extinct ants have such a combination of features. While the exact phylogenetic placement of the new ant remains uncertain, we offer a discussion of its potential affinities based on our constrained phylogenetic analyses. We propose that † Eridanomyrma gen. n. should be considered in the new tribe †Eridanomyrmini trib. n. This new taxon highlights the adaptive diversity of a highly specialised, extinct lineage of Eocene crown-group ants. We also present a 3D model based on X-ray computed microtomography (µCT).

AB - Some Cretaceous ants belonging to the stem group of Formicidae exhibit bizarre morphology. This wide range of unusual adaptive features is primarily related to the mouthparts and clypeus. The researchers were perplexed by their specific ecology, as modern ant lineages do not exhibit anything similar. Here, we report and describe a new genus based on an extraordinary and mysterious alate ant from Late Eocene Baltic amber. Undoubtedly, the new ant is classified within the subfamily Formicinae (one of the crown groups), yet it displays a highly specialised morphology and an unusual array of features that are not observed in any extant ant lineages. Neither recent nor extinct ants have such a combination of features. While the exact phylogenetic placement of the new ant remains uncertain, we offer a discussion of its potential affinities based on our constrained phylogenetic analyses. We propose that † Eridanomyrma gen. n. should be considered in the new tribe †Eridanomyrmini trib. n. This new taxon highlights the adaptive diversity of a highly specialised, extinct lineage of Eocene crown-group ants. We also present a 3D model based on X-ray computed microtomography (µCT).

KW - 3D model

KW - Baltic amber

KW - Formicidae

KW - crown ant

KW - µCT

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/3bed0699-6ca5-33d3-a90b-c76313333606/

U2 - 10.3390/insects16080794

DO - 10.3390/insects16080794

M3 - Article

C2 - 40870594

VL - 16

JO - Insects

JF - Insects

SN - 2075-4450

IS - 8

M1 - 794

ER -