Titanomyrma gigantea

†Titanomyrma gigantea Temporal range: Lutetian, Middle Eocene K Pa Eo Ol Mi Pl ↓ Messel, Germany
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formiciinae
Genus:	Titanomyrma
Species:	†T. gigantea
Binomial name
†Titanomyrma gigantea (Lutz, 1986)

Distribution

This taxon was described from Messel, Germany (Lutetian, Middle Eocene).

Nomenclature

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

• †gigantea. †Formicium giganteum Lutz, 1986: 190, figs. 3-8 (q.m.) GERMANY (Eocene). Combination in †Titanomyrma: Archibald, et al. 2011: 3680.

References

• Archibald, S. B., Mathewes, R. W., Aase, A. 2023. Eocene giant ants, Arctic intercontinental dispersal, and hyperthermals revisited: discovery of fossil Titanomyrma (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formiciinae) in the cool uplands of British Columbia, Canada. The Canadian Entomologist 155, e6, 1-11 (doi:10.4039/tce.2022.49).
• Archibald, S.B., Johnson, K.R., Mathewes, R.W., Greenwood, D.R. 2011. Intercontinental dispersal of giant thermophilic ants across the Arctic during early Eocene hyperthermals. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 278(1725): 3679–3686 (doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.0729).
• Lutz, H. 1986. Eine neue Unterfamilie der Formicidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) aus dem mittel-eozänen Olschiefer der "Grube Messel" bei Darmstadt (Deutschland, S-Hessen). Senckenb. Leth. 67: 177-218.