''Gesomyrmex germanicus'' is an

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 ...

species of ant in the subfamily Formicinae known from an Eocene fossil found in Europe. ''G. germanicus'' is one of only eight species in the ant genus ''

Gesomyrmex ''Gesomyrmex'' is a genus of ants in the subfamily Formicinae. The genus contains six extant species, known from the Indomalayan realm, and nine fossil species. Of the extant species, four are known only from workers (''G. chaperi'', ''G. howar ...

'' to have been described from fossils found in Europe.

History and classification

When described ''Gesomyrmex germanicus'' was known from a group of four insects which are compression-impression fossils preserved in a layer of soft sedimentary rock. Along with other well preserved insect fossils, the ''G. germanicus'' specimens were collected from layers of the Lutetian Eckfeld maar. The formation is composed of Brown coals, oil shales, and

Bituminous shale Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitute ...

which preserved numerous insects, fish, birds, reptiles, and terrestrial mammals as a notable lagerstätten. The area is a preserved

maar lake A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption (an explosion which occurs when groundwater comes into contact with hot lava or magma). A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow ...

which initially formed approximately 47 million years ago as the result of volcanic explosions. At the time of description, the type series consisted of the holotype specimen, NHMM PE-1997/29 and paratype specimen NHMM PE-1998/13; along with two additional fossils NHMM PE-1998/1 and NHMM PE-1998/9. They were preserved in the Landessammlung fur Naturkunde Rheinland-Pfalz fossil collections. The insects were first studied by German entomologists Gennady Dlussky, Torsten Wappler and Sonja Wedmann, with their 2009

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

of the new species being published in the electronic journal ''Zootaxa''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''germanicus'' is derived from Germany, the country where the fossils are found. The species is one of eight ''Gesomyrmex'' species, all of which have been described from European fossils. Three species were described prior to ''G. germanicus'', '' G. bremii'' in 1849, '' G. hoernesi'' in 1868, and '' G. miegi'' in 1937. The remaining four species; '' G. breviceps'', '' G. curiosus'', '' G. flavescens'', and '' G. pulcher'' were all described by Dlussky ''et al'' in the same 2009 paper as ''G. germanicus''. Six modern species have been described so far, all from the Tropical regions of Asia, creating a disjunct distribution between the fossil species and the modern species.

Description

The ''Gesomyrmex germanicus'' specimens are partially preserved queen caste adults which are fossilized with their dorsal side facing upwards and the attached wings folded along their back. The overall length of the hoplotype queen is approximately and the head has an estimated length of . The antennae are slender in appearance, composed of a scape which extends to the middle of the

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

and an undetermined number of funicular segments. The overall coloration of the body is black, while the wings are preserved as clear, with darkened

pterostigma The pterostigma (plural: pterostigmata) is a group of specialized cells in the outer insect wing, wings of insects, which are often thickened or coloured, and thus stand out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonfly, dragonfli ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q119629 Lutetian insects Prehistoric insects of Europe Fossil ant taxa Formicinae Insects described in 2009