Cephalotes olmecus explained

Cephalotes olmecus is an extinct species of arboreal ant of the genus Cephalotes known only from Mexican amber inclusions.[1]

Taxonomy

Cephalotes olmecus was first described in 1999 from two Chiapas amber fossil inclusions of respectively a worker and a dwarf soldier ant.[2] Maria de Andrade, who described the species, placed C. olmecus in the grandinosus clade in which it forms a subclade with fossil species Cephalotes maya and extant species Cephalotes foliaceus.[2]

The specific epithet olmecus is in reference to the Olmecs of Mexico.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fossilworks: Cephalotes olmecus . www.fossilworks.org . 6 January 2024.
  2. Andrade . Maria L. de . Baroni Urbani . Cesare . Diversity and adaptation in the ant genus Cephalotes, past and present (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) . Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde . 1999 . 271 . 425-429, 853 . 6 January 2024 . Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde.