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Aphaenogaster Mersa
''Aphaenogaster mersa'' is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae known from a pair of Middle Eocene fossils found in Europe. ''A. mersa'' is one of three species in the ant genus ''Aphaenogaster'' to have been noted from fossils found in Baltic amber by William Morton Wheeler. History and classification ''Aphaenogaster mersa'' was examined and described from a single type specimen worker which was fossilized as an inclusion in a transparent chunk of Baltic amber. Baltic amber is approximately 46 million years old, having been deposited during the Lutetian stage of the Middle Eocene. There is debate over the plant family which produced the amber, with evidence supporting relatives of either an ''Agathis'' or a ''Pseudolarix''. When first described, the type worker was part of the University of Königsberg amber collection as specimen number B18509. The fossil was first studied by Wheeler, then a paleoentomologist with Harvard University, who placed the species i ...
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William Morton Wheeler
William Morton Wheeler (March 19, 1865 – April 19, 1937) was an American entomologist, myrmecologist and Harvard professor. Biography Early life and education William Morton Wheeler was born on March 19, 1865, to parents Julius Morton Wheeler and Caroline Georgiana Wheeler ( Anderson) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At a young age, Wheeler had an interest in natural history, first being when he observed a moth ensnared in a spiders web; such observation interested Wheeler that he became importunate for more nature lore. Wheeler attended public school, but, due to "persistently bad behavior", he was transferred to a local University School of Milwaukee, German academy which was known for its extreme discipline. After he completed his courses in the German academy, he attended a German normal school. In both institutions, Wheeler was trained in a variety of subjects: he was given training in languages, philosophy and science. By this time, he could read fluently in French, German, Greek, ...
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Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and one of the most prestigious and highly ranked universities in the world. The university is composed of ten academic faculties plus Harvard Radcliffe Institute. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences offers study in a wide range of undergraduate and graduate academic disciplines, and other faculties offer only graduate degrees, including professional degrees. Harvard has three main campuses: the Cambridge campus centered on Harvard Yard; an adjoining campus immediately across Charles River in the Allston neighborhood of Boston; and the medical campus in Boston's Longwood Medical Area. Harvard's endowment is valued at $50.9 billion, making it the wealthiest academic institution in the world. Endowment inco ...
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Fossil Taxa Described In 1915
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the ''fossil record''. Paleontology is the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are usually considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years old to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before print. The observation in the 19th century that certain fossils were associated with certain rock strata led to the recognition of a geological timescale and the relative ages of different fossils. The development of radiometric dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed scientists to quantitatively measure the absolute ...
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Fossil Ant Taxa
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, Seashell, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in #Resin, amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the ''fossil record''. Paleontology is the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are usually considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years old to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before print. The observation in the 19th century that certain fossils were associated with certain rock stratum, strata led to the recognition of a geological timescale and the relative ages of different fossils. The development of radiometric dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed scientists to quantitativ ...
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Lutetian Insects
The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage or age in the Eocene. It spans the time between . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it is sometimes referred to as the Middle Eocene Subepoch. Stratigraphic definition The Lutetian was named after Lutetia, the Latin name for the city of Paris. The Lutetian Stage was introduced in scientific literature by French geologist Albert de Lapparent in 1883 and revised by A. Blondeau in 1981. The base of the Lutetian Stage is at the first appearance of the nanofossil ''Blackites inflatus'', according to an official reference profile (GSSP) established in 2011. Of two candidates located in Spain, the Gorrondatxe section was chosen.See thwebsite of Eustoquio Molinafor these candidates. The top of the Lutetian (the base of the Bartonian) is at the first appearance of calcareous nanoplankton species ''Reticulofenestra reticulata''. The Lutetian overlaps with the Geisel ...
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Epinotum
The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments of the thorax of hexapods, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the mesonotum (dorsal), the mesosternum (ventral), and the mesopleuron (lateral) on each side. The mesothorax is the segment that bears the forewings in all winged insects, though sometimes these may be reduced or modified, as in beetles ( Coleoptera) or Dermaptera, in which they are sclerotized to form the elytra ("wing covers"), and the Strepsiptera, in which they are reduced to form halteres that attach to the mesonotum. All adult insects possess legs on the mesothorax. In some groups of insects, the mesonotum is hypertrophied, such as in Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera), in which the anterior portion of the mesonotum (called the mesoscutum, or simply "scutum") forms most of the dorsal surface of the thorax. In these orders, there is also typically a small sclerite attached to the mesonotum that covers the win ...
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Mesonotum
The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments of the thorax of hexapods, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the mesonotum (dorsal), the mesosternum (ventral), and the mesopleuron (lateral) on each side. The mesothorax is the segment that bears the forewings in all winged insects, though sometimes these may be reduced or modified, as in beetles (Coleoptera) or Dermaptera, in which they are sclerotized to form the elytra ("wing covers"), and the Strepsiptera, in which they are reduced to form halteres that attach to the mesonotum. All adult insects possess legs on the mesothorax. In some groups of insects, the mesonotum is hypertrophied, such as in Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera), in which the anterior portion of the mesonotum (called the mesoscutum, or simply "scutum") forms most of the dorsal surface of the thorax. In these orders, there is also typically a small sclerite attached to the mesonotum that covers the wing ba ...
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Rovno Amber
Rivne amber, occasionally called Ukrainian amber, is amber found in the Rivne Oblast and surrounding regions of Ukraine and Belarus. The amber is dated between Late Eocene and Early Miocene, and suggested to be contemporaneous to Baltic amber. Major exploration and mining of the amber did not start until the 1990s. Geology The late Eocene amber is hosted in the Mezhigorje Formation, with early reports of occurrences in the underlying Obukhov Formation as well. The formations are found along the northwestern margin of the Ukrainian Crystalline Shield exposed in the Rivne region of the Ukraine and across the border near Rechitsa in the Gomel Region of Belarus. The granite basement rock was overlain by sandy to clayey deposits that were host to alluvial amber. The two formations total between in thickness, both containing interbeds or mixtures of brown coals and carbonized vegetation. Both formations are sandy to clayey in texture, with the Obukhov having more clayey glaucon ...
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Bitterfeld Amber
The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than 100,000 tons of amber. Today, more than 90% of the world's amber comes from Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. It is a major source of income for the region; the local Kaliningrad Amber Combine extracted 250 tonnes of it in 2014, 400 tonnes in 2015. "Baltic amber" was formerly thought to include amber from the Bitterfeld brown coal mines in Saxony (Eastern Germany). Bitterfeld amber was previously believed to be only 20–22 million years old (Miocene), but a comparison of the animal inclusions in 2003 suggested that it was possibly Baltic amber that was redeposited in a Miocene deposit. Further study of insect taxa in the ambers has shown Bitterfeld amber to be from the same forest as the Baltic amber forest, but separately deposited from a mor ...
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Aphaenogaster Antiqua
''Aphaenogaster'' is a genus of myrmicine ants. About 200 species have been described, including 18 fossil species. They occur worldwide except in South America south of Colombia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Antarctica. They are often confused with ''Pheidole'' or ''Pheidologeton''. These two have major and minor workers, while ''Aphaenogaster'' has only a single worker caste. ''Pheidole'' has three-segmented clubs on its antennae, while ''Aphaenogaster'' has four segments and a larger body size. ''Pheidologeton'' has 11-segmented antennae, while the antennae in ''Aphaenogaster'' are 12-segmented.Genus ''Aphaenogaster''
In Australia, they often build dense, conspicuous nests.Richards, P.J. (2009) ''Aphaenogaster'' ants as bioturbators: impacts on soil and slope processes. Earth-Science Reviews 96 ...
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Aphaenogaster Sommerfeldti
''Aphaenogaster sommerfeldti'' is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae known from a group of Middle Eocene fossils found in Europe. ''A. sommerfeldti'' is one of three species in the ant genus '' Aphaenogaster'' to have been noted from fossils found in Baltic amber by William Morton Wheeler. History and classification When first examined, ''Aphaenogaster sommerfeldti'' was described from a pair of type specimen workers which are fossilized as inclusions in transparent chunks of Baltic amber. Baltic amber is approximately forty six million years old, having been deposited during Lutetian stage of the Middle Eocene. There is debate on what plant family the amber was produced by, with evidence supporting relatives of either an '' Agathis'' relative or a ''Pseudolarix'' relative. All the type specimens were collected over 125 years ago, and when first described were part of the University of Königsberg amber collection. The fossils were first studied by Austri ...
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Aphaenogaster Oligocenica
''Aphaenogaster oligocenica'' is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae known from a pair of Middle Eocene fossils found in Europe. ''A. oligocenica'' is one of three species in the ant genus ''Aphaenogaster'' to have been noted from fossils found in Baltic amber by William Morton Wheeler. History and classification When first examined, ''Aphaenogaster oligocenica'' was described from a single type specimen worker, with a second specimen being noted as probably belonging to the species, but too obscured by white mold growth in the fossil to be confirmed. Both of the specimen ants are fossilized as inclusions in transparent chunks of Baltic amber. Baltic amber is approximately 46 million years old, having been deposited during the Lutetian stage of the Middle Eocene. There is debate over the plant family which produced the amber, with evidence supporting relatives of either an '' Agathis'' or a ''Pseudolarix''. When first described, the type worker was part of t ...
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