Prionomyrmex
Encyclopedia
Prionomyrmex is a genus of extinct ants belonging to the subfamily
Myrmeciinae
. This genus is known only from fossil
specimens in amber dating to the Eocene
. It was suggested by Baroni Urbani in 2000 that the living species Nothomyrmecia macrops belongs in Prionomyrmex, but this proposal has not been widely accepted by the entomological community (e.g.,).
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Myrmeciinae
Myrmeciinae
The Myrmeciinae is a subfamily of the Formicidae that was once found worldwide but is now restricted to Australia and New Caledonia. This subfamily is one of several ant subfamilies which possess gamergates, female worker ants which are able to mate and reproduce, thus sustaining the colony after...
. This genus is known only from fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
specimens in amber dating to the Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
. It was suggested by Baroni Urbani in 2000 that the living species Nothomyrmecia macrops belongs in Prionomyrmex, but this proposal has not been widely accepted by the entomological community (e.g.,).