Macabeemyrma

Macabeemyrma
Temporal range: Ypresian, 51 Ma
Reconstruction of Macabeemyrma ovata head capsule
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmeciinae
Genus: Macabeemyrma
Species:
M. ovata
Binomial name
Macabeemyrma ovata

Macabeemyrma is an extinct genus of bulldog ants in the subfamily Myrmeciinae containing the single species Macabeemyrma ovata, described in 2006 from Ypresian stage (Early Eocene) deposits of British Columbia, Canada. Only a single specimen is known; a holotype queen found preserved as a compression fossil. The specimen had no wings and small portions of its legs and eyes were faintly preserved. It was a large ant, reaching 25 millimetres (0.98 in) in length. This ants' behaviour would have been similar to that of extant Myrmeciinae ants, such as foraging singly in search for arthropod prey and nesting in soil or in trees. Macabeemyrma shows similarities to extinct ants in the genus Ypresiomyrma, and to the living Nothomyrmecia macrops, but has not been conclusively assigned to any tribe, instead generally regarded as incertae sedis within Myrmeciinae. However, the sole specimen lacks definitive traits, and its classification in Myrmeciinae, and even its identity as an ant, has been challenged.

  1. ^ Johnson, Norman F. (19 December 2007). "Macabeemyrma Archibald, Cover & Moreau". Hymenoptera Name Server version 1.5. Columbus, Ohio, USA: Ohio State University. Retrieved 1 April 2015.