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Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and Its Taxonomic Consequences

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Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and Its Taxonomic Consequences Rediscovery of the Baltic amber ant genus Prionomyrmex (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and its taxonomic consequences Autor(en): Baroni Urbani, Cesare Objekttyp: Article Zeitschrift: Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae Band (Jahr): 93 (2000) Heft 3 PDF erstellt am: 09.10.2021 Persistenter Link: http://doi.org/10.5169/seals-168834 Nutzungsbedingungen Die ETH-Bibliothek ist Anbieterin der digitalisierten Zeitschriften. Sie besitzt keine Urheberrechte an den Inhalten der Zeitschriften. Die Rechte liegen in der Regel bei den Herausgebern. Die auf der Plattform e-periodica veröffentlichten Dokumente stehen für nicht-kommerzielle Zwecke in Lehre und Forschung sowie für die private Nutzung frei zur Verfügung. Einzelne Dateien oder Ausdrucke aus diesem Angebot können zusammen mit diesen Nutzungsbedingungen und den korrekten Herkunftsbezeichnungen weitergegeben werden. 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Basel. 2000 Rediscovery of the Baltic amber ant genus Prionomyrmex (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and its taxonomic consequences Cesare Baroni Urbani Key words: Formicidae. ant subfamilies. Baltic amber. Prionomyrmex. Nothomyrmecia ABSTRACT ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Two specimens of the Bailie amber monotypic ant genus Prionomyrmex. Zwei neue Exemplare der monotypischen Ameisengattung Prionomyrmex aus known only on a few specimens supposed to have been destroyed during the Baltischem Bernstein, bisher nur von wenigen Exemplaren bekannt, die seit Second World War. are described as a new species. P. janzeni. P. janzeni dem zweiten Weltkrieg verschollen sind, werden als neue Art P. janzeni n.sp. shows remarkable similarities with the Recent Australian genus Nothomyrmecia. beschrieben. P. janzeni zeigt bemerkenswerte Ähnlichkeiten mit der rezenten A parsimony analysis of the relationships between the three most closely australischen Gattung Nothomyrmecia. Eine auf 34 Merkmalen basierende related genera, i. e. Myrmecia (Recent Australian). Nothomyrmecia (Recent cladistische Analyse der drei nächstverwandten Gattungen, i.e. Myrmecia Australian), and Prionomyrmex (Baltic Eocene) based on 34 morphological (rezent. Australien). Nothomyrmecia (rezent. Australien) und Prionomyrmex characters, suggests the following phylogeny: (Myrmecia. (Nothomyrmecia. (baltisches Eozän) legt folgende Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen nahe: (Myrmecia, Prionomyrmex)). In this reconstruction, however. Nothomyrmecia is characterised (.Nothomyrmecia, Prionomyrmex)). Bei dieser Gruppierung ist Nothomyrmecia by only two. doubtful, apomorphies and Prionomyrmex is paraphyletic allerdings nur durch zwei zweifelhafte Apomorphien gegenüber lo it. As a consequence of this, the following nomenclature changes are Prionomyrmex ausgezeichnet: Prionomyrmex ninnili gegenüber Nothomyrmecia eine proposed. paraphvletischc Stellung ein. Deshalb werden folgende nomcnklalorische 1. The genus Nothomvrmcciu Clark. 1934 is a junior synonym of Priono¬ Änderungen vorgeschlagen: myrmex Mayr. 1868. 1. Die Gattung Nothomyrmecia Clark. 1934 ist ein Juniorsynonym von Prio¬ 2. Prionomyrmex macrops (Clark) is a new combination (from nomyrmex Mavr. 1868. Nothomyrmecia), 2. Prionomyrmex macrops (Clark), nov. comb, (von Nothomyrmecia). 3. The subfamily Nothomyrmeciinae Clark. 1951 is a junior synonym of the 3. Die Tribus Prionomyrmeciini Wheeler. 1915 wird auf Unterfamilienrang tribe Prionomyrmecini Wheeler. 1915. erhoben (Prionomvrmeciinac. nov. stat.).' 4. The tribe Prionomyrmecini Wheeler. 1915 is raised to subfamilial status 4. Die Unterfamilie Nothomyrmeciinae Clark. 1951 ist ein Juniorsynonym (Prionomyrmecinae, new status). von Prionomyrmeciini Wheeler. 1915. In this classification the Myrmeciinae result characterised bv four apomorphies In dieser Klassifikation sind die Myrmeciinae durch vier und die Prionomyr- and the Prionomyrmecinae by three: one undoubted, the appearance of meeiinae durch folgende drei Apomorphien gekennzeichnet: a lateral clypeal carina, and two verified in the Recent species only and Die erste, das Vorhandensein eines lateralen clypealen Kiels wurde bei assumed by extrapolation from similaritv in "Bauplan" lo be present in the fossils allen Taxa festgestellt. Die zwei weiteren, ein ventrales Stridulationsorgan und as well, presence of a ventral stridulitrum and of a biaculeate subgenital eine zweispitzige Subgenitalplatle. konnte nur bei den rezenten Arten verifiziert plate. werden: ihr Vorhandensein bei den fossilen Taxa kann nur durch It is stressed that a hypothetical future demonstration of absence of the Extrapolation angesichts der hohen Ähnlichkeit im "Bauplan" vermutet werden. last two characters in the fossil species will not affect the classification Sollte in Zukunft nachgewiesen werden, dass die beiden letztgenannten proposed in this paper. This hypothetical discovery, in fact, would render again Merkmale hei den fossilen Arten fehlen, so würde dies nicht die hier Prionomyrmex paraphyletic to Nothomyrmecia and hence its senior synonym. vorgeschlagene Klassifikation berühren. Die hypothetische Entdeckung würde wiederum in einer paraphyletischen Stellung von Prionomyrmex gegenüber Nothomyrmecia resultieren, wodurch Prionomyrmex als alleres Svnonvm Priorität erhalt. Introduction The fossil ant genus Prionomyrmex was destined by Mayr culty of observation of this single specimen. Mayr noticed 1868) to include the new species longiceps based on a single, accurately its close relationships with the Recent Australian badly preserved, worker in Baltic amber. In spite of the diffi¬ genus Myrmecia. A record of a second, petrified, probable Institut für Natur-, Landschafts- und Umweltschutz (NLU). Abteilung Biogeographie Neuhausstrasse 31. CH-4057 Basel. Switzerland. E-mail: [email protected] Baltic amber ant genus Prionomyrmex rediscovered 471 ' ' ^«fc V ^ / '¦ ^ t. \ x ¦-* Fig. 1. Amber specimen No. 1. lateral view Distance between the scale bars (I.I Prionomyrmex species from the Upper Miocene of Baden where the Prionomyrmex material was preserved probably (Scudder. 1895) needs confirmation and seems to have been also contributed to decrease the popularity and the number of ignored by all subsequent ant specialists literature citations of this genus. Nearly half a century after Mayr. Wheeler (1915) re- This was not the case for \othomyrmei ia, judged to repre described P. longiceps on seven workers in different preservation sent a subfamily of its own by Clark (1951) and object of a conditions and on a male without gaster. His description paper appealing to its further collection by Brown & Wilson can be regarded as exhaustive even for modern standards and (1959). is complemented by a reasonable figure of a worker in the Nothomyrmecia was eventually collected again (Taylor. position in which it is embedded in amber, i. e. without stretching 1978) and this finding persuaded previously dissenter ant spc or orienting some body parts to allow optimal view of the cialists that the genus was worth of separate subfamilial status morphology. Wheeler emphasised again the close relationship of within the Formicidae as already suggested by Clark (1951). Prionomyrmex with the Recent Australian Myrmecia. a genus This was destined to become one of the most famous ant constituting alone what was at that time the monotypic tribe records of the century. Myrmeciini (today subfamily Myrmeciinae). considered until The relationships between Nothomyrmecia and recently as the less specialised of all known ants. Wheeler (1. Prionomyrmex are often mentioned in the paper by Taylor (1. c.) and c.) went even farther in stressing the systematic position of in other papers as well but without adding to the scanty Prionomyrmex by creating for it the new tribe Prionomyrmicini remarks already made by Clark (1934) new information on the (sic), related to the Australian Myrmeciini. The interest of this relationships between the Australian species and the Baltic ant was immediately clear to all myrmecologists. although it is amber fossil. very likely that nobody ever examined a specimen of On the other hand, the renown of Prionomyrmex had its Prionomyrmex since Wheeler's time. The concern for Prionomyrmex finishing stroke when Grimaldi et al. (1998) excluded it from had a last peak when Clark (1934) described another new their phylogeny of the Formicidae on the basis of a rule (in-, genus of extant Australian ants close to Myrmecia: vented by themselves) banning from consideration taxa scored Nothomyrmecia. In the original description Clark (1. c.) wrote for less than 30% of the characters they employed. correctly that the new genus appears 'somewhat similar' to the Information on Nothomyrmecia is easily available to anyone Baltic amber fossil Prionomyrmex (unknown to him) 'but the today. There are representative specimens in different
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