''Paraponera'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of
ants and the
only genus in the
subfamily Paraponerinae.
The name means "near-''
Ponera''".
It consists of two
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
: the extant ''
Paraponera clavata'', also known as a bullet ant, found in the
Neotropics
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In bi ...
, and the very small
fossil
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 ...
species ''
Paraponera dieteri'' known from
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 incl ...
(
Early Miocene
The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages.
The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 Ma to 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). It was p ...
; 16-19 million years ago).
Bullet ants are so named for the pain caused by their venomous stings. The intensely painful sting is toxic to invertebrates as well as vertebrates and a major component is the neurotoxic peptide poneratoxin.
Species
* ''
Paraponera clavata''
(Fabricius, 1775)
* †''
Paraponera dieteri''
Baroni Urbani, 1994
References
External links
*
Paraponerinae
Ant genera
Messinian genera
Zanclean genera
Piacenzian genera
Gelasian genera
Calabrian genera
Ionian genera
Tarantian genera
Holocene genera
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