|
Gracilidris Humiloides
''Gracilidris humiloides'' is an extinct species of ant in the genus ''Gracilidris''. It was discovered in the Dominican amber, only known from a single specimen, described by Wilson in 1985.Wilson, E. O. 1985c. Ants of the Dominican amber (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). 3. The subfamily Dolichoderinae. ''Psyche (Cambridge.)'' 92: 17-37 'PDF'' Classification Being only known from a single specimen described in 1985, the species was first placed in the genus ''Iridomyrmex''. The genus was then revised in 1992, and a majority of New World ants were transferred to the genus ''Linepithema'', including ''Gracilidris humiloides'', although the species lacked apomorphies that defined the genus ''Linepithema''. Due to position and shape of the eyes, length of the legs and other distinct features, the species has been placed in the genus ''Gracilidris'' in the subfamily Dolichoderinae. References † A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dominican Amber
Dominican amber is amber from the Dominican Republic derived from resin of the extinct tree ''Hymenaea protera''. Dominican amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber by being nearly always transparent, and it has a higher number of fossil inclusions. This has enabled the detailed reconstruction of the ecosystem of a long-vanished tropical forest.George Poinar, Jr. and Roberta Poinar, 1999. ''The Amber Forest: A Reconstruction of a Vanished World'', (Princeton University Press) Age A study in the early 1990s returned a date up to 40 million years old. However, according to Poinar, Dominican amber dates from Oligocene to Miocene, thus about 25 million years old. The oldest, and hardest of this amber comes from the mountain region north of Santiago. The ''La Cumbre'', ''La Toca'', ''Palo Quemado'', ''La Bucara'', and ''Los Cacaos'' mining sites in the ''Cordillera Septentrional'' not far from Santiago. Amber has also been found in the south-eastern Bayaguana/Sabana de la Mar a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "reappears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence. More than 99% of all species that ever lived on Earth, amounting to over five billion species, are estimated to have died out. It is estimated that there are currently around 8.7 million species of eukaryote globally, and possibly many times more if microorganisms, like bacteria, are included. Notable extinct animal species include non-avian dinosaurs, saber-toothed cats, dodos, m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gracilidris
''Gracilidris'' is a genus of dolichoderine ants with nocturnal behaviour; thought to have gone extinct 15-20 million years ago, they have been found in Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina and were described in 2006. For the first time, It was recorded that the dolichoderine ant genus ''Gracilidris'' and its sole species, ''G. pombero'' were found in the Colombia Amazon basin The single existing fossil in Dominican amber makes the genus a Lazarus taxon. The only known extant species, '' Gracilidris pombero'', nests in small colonies In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ... in the soil. These ants have been described only very recently and little is known about them. Species * †'' Gracilidris humiloides'' (Wilson, 1985) * '' Gracilidris pombero'' Wild & Cuezzo, 2006 Refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iridomyrmex
''Iridomyrmex'' is a genus of ants called rainbow ants (referring to their blue-green iridescent sheen) first described by Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr in 1862. He placed the genus in the subfamily Dolichoderinae of the family Formicidae. It has 79 described species and five fossil species. Most of these ants are native to Australia; others are found in Asia and Oceania, and they have been introduced to Brazil, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates. Fossil species are known from China, France, and the United States. These ants are known to be an ecologically dominant and important group of ants, but they are sometimes regarded as pests because they disturb soil and enter human houses. Farmers in rural Australia place animal carcasses on meat ant ('' I. purpureus'') mounds as a method of disposing of them; meat ants consume the carcass and reduce it to bones in a matter of weeks. Meat ants also engage in ritualised fighting, which helps prevent casualties and solve te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 33: "[16c: from the feminine of ''Americus'', the Latinized first name of the explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512). The name ''America'' first appeared on a map in 1507 by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, referring to the area now called Brazil]. Since the 16c, a name of the western hemisphere, often in the plural ''Americas'' and more or less synonymous with ''the New World''. Since the 18c, a name of the United States of America. The second sense is now primary in English: ... However, the term is open to uncertainties: ..." The term gained prominence in the early 16th century, during Europe's Age of Discovery, shortly after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci concluded that America (now often called ''the Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linepithema
''Linepithema'' is a genus of small ants in the subfamily Dolichoderinae. Distribution Their native distribution rage from northern Mexico, east into the Caribbean, and south into northern Argentina. Two species have been spread around the world by human activities: ''L. iniquum'' and ''L. humile''. The latter is better known as the Argentine ant, an invasive species with notable presence in Mediterranean climates. ''Linepithema'' species are found from sea level and up to 4,000 meters above sea level in the Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S .... Species *'' Linepithema anathema'' *'' Linepithema angulatum'' *'' Linepithema aztecoides'' *'' Linepithema cerradense'' *'' Linepithema cryptobioticum'' *'' Linepithema dispertitum'' *'' Linepithema flavesc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apomorphies
In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have evolved in their most recent common ancestor. ) In cladistics, synapomorphy implies homology. Examples of apomorphy are the presence of erect gait, fur, the evolution of three middle ear bones, and mammary glands in mammals but not in other vertebrate animals such as amphibians or reptiles, which have retained their ancestral traits of a sprawling gait and lack of fur. Thus, these derived traits are also synapomorphies of mammals in general as they are not shared by other vertebrate animals. Etymology The word —coined by German entomologist Willi Hennig—is derived from the Ancient Greek words (''sún''), meaning "with, together"; (''apó''), meaning "away from"; and (''morphḗ''), meaning "shape, form". Clade analysis Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dolichoderinae
Dolichoderinae is a subfamily of ants, which includes species such as the Argentine ant (''Linepithema humile''), the erratic ant, the odorous house ant, and the cone ant. The subfamily presents a great diversity of species throughout the world, distributed in different biogeographic realms, from the Palearctic, Nearctic, Afrotropical region and Malaysia, to the Middle East, Australian, and Neotropical regions. This subfamily is distinguished by having a single petiole (no post-petiole) and a slit-like orifice, from which chemical compounds are released. Dolichoderine ants do not possess a sting, unlike ants in some other subfamilies, such as Ponerinae and Myrmicinae, instead relying on the chemical defensive compounds produced from the anal gland. Of the compounds produced by dolichoderine ants, several terpenoids were identified including the previously unknown iridomyrmecin, isoiridomyrmecin, and iridodial. Such compounds are responsible for the smell given off by ants of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hymenoptera Of North America
Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or places that are otherwise inaccessible. This ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism (complete metamorphosis)—that is, they have a wormlike larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they mature. Etymology The name Hymenoptera refers to the wings of the insects, but the original derivation is ambiguous. All references agree that the derivation involves the Ancient Greek πτερόν (''pteron'') for wing. The Ancient Greek ὑμήν (''hymen'') for membrane provides a plausible etymology for the term because species in this order have membranous wings. However, a key characteristic of this order is that the hindwings are co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fossil Taxa Described In 1985
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 absol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Extinct")
