Bitterfeld Amber

Bitterfeld Amber
	; Paleogeography of Early-Mid Eocene Europe, showing location of Baltic (labelled Gdansk), Bitterfeld and Ronvo amber deposits.
Age (Ma)
Start:	37.8
End:	33.9
System/Period:	Paleogene
Series/Epoch:	Eocene
Stage/Age:	Priabonian
Location
Location:	Baltic Sea region
Country:	Europe
Coordinates:	51.6°N, 12.4°E
Diversity
Genera:	39
Species:	71

Dubovikoff et al. 2020 - Taking into account Protaneuretus mirabilis and Eldermyrmex exsectus that we described from the Bitterfeld amber (Dubovikoff et al., 2019), only 15 of 65 described species of the Bitterfeld ants (23%) are unknown north of the Subparatethys (from Baltic amber) (Dlussky and Rasnitsyn, 2009; Perkovsky, 2016; Radchenko and Dlussky, 2017, 2018a, 2018b); even taking into account a new species of Zherichinius and several other undescribed species of Dolichoderinae and Myrmicinae from Bitterfeld (Perkovsky, 2016) the proportion of Bitterfeld ants unknown north of the Subparatethys is considerably lower than in the Rovno amber: 26 of 71 (37%) of such species are present among the already described ant species from the Rovno amber (Perkovsky, 2018; Radchenko and Perkovsky, 2020).

Notes

Radchenko & Dlussky (2018) - The place of origin of various Late Eocene European ambers, in particular, Rovno and Baltic ambers, remains an important question. It was previously believed that the Rovno amber is redeposited Baltic amber (Katinas, 1971), but to date, it has become generally accepted by geologists that Rovno and Baltic ambers were formed independently at the same geological time, but in different territories (Maidanovich and Makarenko, 1988; Kosmowska- Ceranowicz, 2012; Karlovich and Prokopets, 2014). The last statement is corroborated by the composition of the myrmecofauna and some other insect groups (Perkovsky et al., 2003, 2010; Dlussky and Rasnitsyn, 2009; Perkovsky, 2013; Ivanov et al., 2016). In our opinion, the distributional pattern, abundance of representatives of Fallomyrma in Rovno, Scandinavian, and Bitterfeld ambers, and complete absence of this genus in the Baltic amber are evidence of independent origin of Rovno and Baltic ambers.

Genera known from Bitterfeld amber

Species known from Bitterfeld amber

Location of Formation

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References