Macabeemyrma
| Macabeemyrma ovata Temporal range: Ypresian, 51Ma | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Genus: | †Macabeemyrma |
| Species: | † M. ovata |
| Binomial name | |
| Macabeemyrma ovata Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006 | |
Macabeemyrma is an extinct genus of bulldog ants in the subfamily Myrmeciinae and containing the single species Macabeemyrma ovata.[1] The species is known from Early Eocene, Ypresian stage, lake deposits called the McAbee Fossil Beds near the small community of Cache Creek, British Columbia Canada.[1]
History and classification
Macabeemyrma ovata is known only from one fossil, the part and counterpart holotype, number "UCCIPR L-18 F-844" for part side and "UCCIPR L-18 F-856" for the counterpart side. It is a single, mostly complete adult queen, preserved as a compression fossil in fine grained shale.[1] The shale specimen is from fossiliferous outcrops at the McAbee Fossil Beds, part of an unnamed formation in the Kamloops group which outcrops east of Cache Creek. Both sides of the specimen are currently preserved in the paleoentomological collections housed in the Thompson Rivers University located in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. M. ovata was first studied by Dr. Bruce Archibald, Stefan Cover and Corrie Moreau of the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with their 2006 type description of the genus and species in an Annals of the Entomological Society of America journal article. Archibald, Cover, and Moreau created the generic name Macabeemyrma as a toponym of the type locality at McAbee combined with the Greek myrmex, meaning "ant". In accordance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature recommendations the locality name was spelled Macabee. The specific epithet ovata was coined from the Latin "ovatus" meaning "egg shaped", in reference to the shape of the species' head capsule.[1]
Description
Macabeemyrma ovata is about 25 millimetres (0.98 in) long with a distinct elongated oval head capsule. The holotype is missing the wings and some portions of the legs, while the eyes are very faintly preserved. The shape of the mandibles is generally elongate and not subtriangular which is normal for other members of Myrmeciinae except the genus Myrmecia.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Archibald, S.B.; Cover, S. P.; Moreau, C. S. (2006). "Bulldog Ants of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands and History of the Subfamily (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae)". Annals of the Entomological Society of America 99 (3): 487–523. doi:10.1603/0013-8746(2006)99[487:BAOTEO]2.0.CO;2.
External links
- Genus: Macabeemyrma at antweb.org
- Bulldog ants of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands and history of the subfamily (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae) (full text at archive.org)