The discovery is recent due to mislabeling.
-embedded ant specimens that had been kept at Harvard University since the 1930s when she came across one that appeared to have been incorrectly classified as a member of the widespread Platythyrea genus., but I happened to come across a tiny specimen labeled as a common type of ant while gathering data for another project,” said Sosiak. “Once I put the ant under the microscope, I immediately realized the label was inaccurate … I thought, this is something really different.
“This amber would have been excavated around or before the 1930s, so to now learn it contained a rare army ant is surprising enough, much less one that demonstrates these ants roamed Europe,” said, assistant professor of biology at NJIT and senior author of the paper. “From everything we know about army ants living today, there’s no hint of such extinct diversity. With this fossil now out of obscurity, we’ve gained a rare paleontological porthole into the history of these unique predators.
The research team gave the ant the name Dissimulodorylus Perseus in honor of the Greek mythological figure Perseus, who defeated Medusa without being able to see her. The name is derived from the Latin term dissimulo, which means to conceal or hide. This discovery will shine a light on the evolution of ants, and the places different ant species have been.Among social insects, army ants are exceptional in their voracious coordinated predation, nomadic life history and highly specialized wingless queens: the synthesis of these remarkable traits is referred to as the army ant syndrome.
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