Chimaeromyrma

†Chimaeromyrma Temporal range: Thanetian, Paleocene K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl Sakhalin amber, Ukraine
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Camponotini
Genus:	†Chimaeromyrma Dlussky, 1988
Type species
Chimaeromyrma brachycephala
Diversity
1 fossil species (Species Checklist)

Boudinot et al. (2024), Note 5 - The monotypic genera †Chimaeromyrma and †Pseudocamponotus have been treated as incertae sedis in Camponotini, for which we see no specific morphological evidence to question these otherwise harmless placements. We choose to retain †Chimaeromyrma brachycephala as a valid genus and species as it is possible that the identification of this amber fossil may be refined through the application of µ-CT at some point in the future.

Distribution

This taxon is known from Sakhalin amber, Ukraine (Thanetian, Paleocene).

Nomenclature

The following information is derived from Barry Bolton's Online Catalogue of the Ants of the World.

• †CHIMAEROMYRMA [Formicinae: Camponotini]
  • †Chimaeromyrma Dlussky, 1988: 58. Type-species: †Chimaeromyrma brachycephala, by original designation.

References

• Barden, P. 2017. Fossil ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): ancient diversity and the rise of modern lineages. Myrmecological News 24: 1-30.
• Blaimer, B.B., Brady, S.G., Schultz, T.R., Lloyd, M.W., Fisher, B.L., & Ward, P.S. 2015. Phylogenomic methods outperform traditional multi-locus approaches in resolving deep evolutionary history: a case study of formicine ants. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15:271 (DOI 10.1186/s12862-015-0552-5).
• Bolton, B. 1994. Identification guide to the ant genera of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 222 pp. (page 50, Chimaeromyrma in Formicinae, Camponotini)
• Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp. (page 145, Chimaeromyrma in Formicinae, Camponotini)
• Bolton, B. 2003. Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae. Mem. Am. Entomol. Inst. 71: 370pp (page 121, Chimaeromyrma in Formicinae, Camponotini)
• Boudinot, B.E., Bock, B.L., Weingardt, M., Tröger, D., Batelka, J., LI, D., Richter, A., Pohl, H., Moosdorf, O.T.D., Jandausch, K., Hammel, J.U., Beutel, R. G. 2024. Et latet et lucet: Discoveries from the Phyletisches Museum amber and copal collection in Jena, Germany. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 711, 111–176 (doi:10.3897/dez.71.112433).
• Dlussky, G. M. 1988a. Ants of Sakhalin amber (Paleocene?) Paleontol. Zh. 1988(1 1: 50-61 (page 58, Chimaeromyrma incertae sedis in Formicinae)
• Dlussky, G. M.; Fedoseeva, E. B. 1988. Origin and early stages of evolution in ants. Pp. 70-144 in: Ponomarenko, A. G. (ed.) Cretaceous biocenotic crisis and insect evolution. Moskva: Nauka, 232 pp. (page 77, Chimaeromyrma in Formicinae, Camponotini)
• Ward, P.S., Blaimer, B.B., Fisher, B.L. 2016. A revised phylogenetic classification of the ant subfamily Formicinae (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), with resurrection of the genera Colobopsis and Dinomyrmex. Zootaxa 4072 (3): 343–357 (doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4072.3.4).