Ethiopian Amber

Ethiopian Amber
Age (Ma)
Start:	23
End:	16
System/Period:	Neogene
Series/Epoch:	Miocene
Stage/Age:	Priabonian
Location
Country:	Ethiopia
Coordinates:	11.3°N, 38.0°E
Diversity
Genera:	4
Species:	4

Originally thought to be of Cretaceous age, this amber is now known to be much younger in age, likely Miocene (Perrichot et al., 2016, 2018, 2019).

A fossil dolichoderine was reported from Ethiopian amber by LaPolla et al. (2013: suppl. fig. 5) but this specimen is currently under study and has yet to be formally described.

Genera known from Ethiopian amber

• Desyopone
• Melissotarsus
• Ravavy
• Technomyrmex

Species known from Ethiopian amber

• Desyopone hereon
• Melissotarsus ethiopiensis
• Ravavy goldmani
• Technomyrmex svojtkai

Undescribed Species

In addition to the above taxa, a number of undescribed species are also known. These are listed by Perrichot et al. (2022):

• Dorylinae
  • genus uncertain
• Formicinae
  • Anoplolepis
• Myrmicinae
  • Cardiocondyla
  • Carebara
  • Cataulacus
  • Monomorium
  • Pheidole
  • Rhopalomastix
  • Trichomyrmex
  • genus uncertain
• Ponerinae
  • Cryptopone
  • Hypoponera
  • Euponera?
  • genus uncertain
• Pseudomyrmecinae
  • Tetraponera
• Subfamily uncertain
  • genus uncertain

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  An undescribed myrmicine from Ethiopian amber (image from Burmese-amber.com).
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Location of Formation

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References

• LaPolla, J. S.; Dlussky, G. M.; Perrichot, V. 2013. Ants and the fossil record. Annual Review of Entomology 58:609-630.
• Perrichot, V., Salas-Gismondi, R., Antoine, P.-O. 2019. The ant genus Tapinoma Förster (Formicidae: Dolichoderinae) in Miocene amber of Peru. Palaeoentomology 2(6): 585-590 (doi:10.11646/palaeoentomology.2.6.8).