Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Miocene Ethiopian amber: filling gaps in the geological record of African terrestrial biota

Vincent Perrichot (1) , Brendon Boudinot (2, 3) , Michael Engel (4, 5) , Chunpeng Xu (6) , Błażej Bojarski (7) , Jacek Szwedo (7)

1 GR - Géosciences Rennes
2 Friedrich-Schiller-Universität = Friedrich Schiller University Jena [Jena, Germany]
3 UC Davis - University of California [Davis]
4 KU - University of Kansas [Lawrence]
5 AMNH - American Museum of Natural History [New York, USA] = Musée américain d'histoire naturelle [New York, USA]
6 State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy
7 UG - University of Gdańsk

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.

Domaines: Paléontologie

Vincent Perrichot, Brendon Boudinot, Michael Engel, Chunpeng Xu, Błażej Bojarski, et al.. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Miocene Ethiopian amber: filling gaps in the geological record of African terrestrial biota. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2022, pp.zlac053. ⟨10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac053⟩. ⟨insu-03734903⟩