Cephalotes olmecus is an extinct species of arboreal ant of the genus Cephalotes known only from Mexican amber inclusions.[1]
| Cephalotes olmecus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Genus: | Cephalotes |
| Species: | †C. olmecus
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Cephalotes olmecus de Andrade, 1999
| |
Taxonomy
editCephalotes 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]
References
edit- ^ "Fossilworks: Cephalotes olmecus". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ a b c Andrade, Maria L. de; Baroni Urbani, Cesare (1999). "Diversity and adaptation in the ant genus Cephalotes, past and present (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. 271. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde: 425–429, 853. Retrieved 6 January 2024.