Fossil Social Insects

Barden, Phillip; Engel, Michael S.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_45-1

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Formicidae are the best represented family from this interval, yet only those fossils from amber are placeable with confidence (Boudinot et al 2020; Results Part II). Two of these ant groups, †Brownimeciinae and " †Armaniinae/ †Armaniidae" are of substantial phylogenetic importance, as the former have been reported as the sistergroup to the crown Formicidae (Barden & Grimaldi 2016) and the latter suggested to be a "scolioid-formicoid" transitional lineage (Dlussky 1983), albeit of uncertain relationship to ants or other Aculeata (e.g., Wilson 1987b, Dlussky & Fedoseeva 1988, Ward 2007, Borysenko 2017, Barden & Engel 2019). Remarkably, the only recorded hymenopteran from the Maastrichtian is the sweat bee †Cretotrigona prisca (Michener & Grimaldi, 1988) (see also : Engel 2000); no other fossil Hymenoptera have been recorded during the Maastrichtian.…”

Section: Results and Discussion Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolution and systematics of the Aculeata and kin (Hymenoptera), with emphasis on the ants (Formicoidea: †@@@idae fam. nov., Formicidae)

Boudinot

Khouri

Richter

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Fossils not only provide unique opportunity to understand the "tempo and mode" of evolution but are essential for modeling lineage-contingent diversification histories. Here, we interrogate the Mesozoic fossil record of the Aculeata, with emphasis on the ants (Formicidae), and conduct an extended series of ancestral state estimation exercises on distributions of tip-dated combined-evidence phylogenies. We developed and illustrated from ground-up a set of 576 morphological characters which we scored for 144 extant and 431 fossil taxa; we used average posterior probability support to filter this to a target matrix of 303 taxa, for which we integrated strongly filtered ultraconserved element (UCE) data for 115 living species. We also implemented reversible jump MCMC (rjMCMC) and hidden state methods to model complex behavioral characters to test hypotheses about the pathway to obligate eusociality. In addition to revising the higher classification of all sampled groups to family or subfamily level using estimated character polarities to diagnose nodes across the phylogeny, we find that the mid-Cretaceous genera †Camelomecia and †Camelosphecia form a clade which is robustly supported as sister to the total clade Formicidae. For this reason, we name this extinct clade as †@@@idae fam. nov. and provide a definition for the expanded Formicoidea. Based on our results, we recognize three major phases in the early evolution of the ants: (1) origin of ants as running-adapted huntresses during the Late Jurassic in the "stinging aggressor" guild (Aculeata) among various lineages of "sneaking parasitoids" (non-aculeate Vespina); (2) the first formicoid radiation during the Early Cretaceous, by the end of which all major extant ant linages had originated; and (3) turnover of the Formicoidea at the end-Cretaceous leading to the second formicoid radiation, i.e., the Cenozoic formicid diversification. We conclude with a concentrated series of considerations for future directions of study with this dataset and beyond.

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Section: Results and Discussion Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

“…6A, F, H); (41) the anteroventral petiolar sternum, anterior and lateral ("subpetiolar process", sternocoxal, Figs. 6F-I); (42) the posterior surface of the petiolar tergum (postpetiolopetiolar, Figs. 6E); (43) the posterior petiolar articulation ("posterior petiolar collar", helciopetiolar, Figs.…”

Section: Msngmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution and systematics of the Aculeata and kin (Hymenoptera), with emphasis on the ants (Formicoidea: †@@@idae fam. nov., Formicidae)

Boudinot

Khouri

Richter

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…The spectacular evolutionary and ecological success of termites is mostly attributed to their highly integrated eusocial system, defined by cooperative brood care, overlapping generations within a colony and the division of labour into reproductive and non‐reproductive castes (Lin & Michener, 1972; Wilson, 1971, 1975; Wilson & Hölldobler, 2005). Termites are regarded as the first animals that have evolved eusociality (Grimaldi & Engel, 2005; Legendre & Condamine, 2018; Barden & Engel, 2020; Zhao et al ., 2020b) because they show the oldest record of morphologically specialized soldiers (Engel et al ., 2016; Zhao et al ., 2019, 2020a), although the discoveries of Cretaceous ant fossils have questioned this assertion ( e.g . Perrichot, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revising dating estimates and the antiquity of eusociality in termites using the fossilized birth–death process

Jouault

Legendre

Grandcolas

et al. 2021

Systematic Entomology

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Deciphering the timing and tempo of lineage diversification of organisms has greatly benefited from advances in Bayesian phylogenetic analyses using morphological data. Those advances, however, have not been used for termites despite a rich fossil record. Here, we estimate divergence times for living and fossil termites using the fossilized birth–death (FBD) process on a previously published morphological matrix expanded with two new fossils that we describe (see Appendices S1 and S2). Those fossils, based on soldier specimens, are the mid‐Cretaceous mastotermitid Milesitermes engeli gen. et sp. nov., and the Middle Eocene Reticulitermes grimaldii sp. nov. The latter is the oldest occurrence of a Rhinotermitidae soldier and the first termite soldier described from Baltic amber. Our dating estimates provide new stem‐ages and crown‐ages for termites, suggesting older ages than previously thought for several lineages. Importantly, crown‐Isoptera – and, therefore, eusociality – may have arisen approximately 200 Ma. We conclude with further directions to keep improving our understanding of the timing of differentiation in termites.

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“…Ants are the dominant lineage of surface-dwelling eusocial insects, filling tropical canopies, permeating leaf litter, and shaping ecosystems through predation, granivory, herbivory, and a plethora of other means ( Hölldobler and Wilson 1990 ). The fossil record of ants spans more than 100 million years of geological time, with hundreds of species attributed to modern taxa in the Cenozoic (e.g., Mayr 1868 ; Wheeler 1915 ; LaPolla et al 2013), and a Mesozoic fauna with over 50 known species (e.g., Barden 2017 ; Barden and Engel 2019 ). It is the Mesozoic fossils which have imparted the deepest insight into ant evolution, from the first description of a stem-ant species which refined our knowledge of the ant ground plan ( Wilson et al 1967a , b ), to the first Cretaceous crown ants ( Grimaldi and Agosti 2000 , McKellar et al 2013a ) which have informed our chronological estimates of ant origins (e.g., Brady et al 2006 ; Moreau et al 2006 ; Borowiec et al 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

†Camelosphecia gen. nov., lost ant-wasp intermediates from the mid-Cretaceous (Hymenoptera, Formicoidea)

Boudinot¹,

Perrichot²,

Chaul³

2020

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Fossils provide primary material evidence for the pattern and timing of evolution. The newly discovered “beast ants” from mid-Cretaceous Burmite, †Camelospheciagen. nov., display an exceptional combination of plesiomorphies, including absence of the metapleural gland, and a series of unique apomorphies. Females and males, represented by †C. fossorsp. nov. and †C. venatorsp. nov., differ in a number of features which suggest distinct sexual biologies. Combined-evidence phylogenetic analysis recovers †Camelosphecia and †Camelomecia as a clade which forms the extinct sister group of the Formicidae. Notably, these genera are only known from alate males and females; workers, if present, have yet to be recovered. Based on ongoing study of the total Aculeata informed by the beast ant genera, we provide a brief diagnosis of the Formicoidea. We also provide the first comprehensive key to the major groupings of Mesozoic Formicoidea, alongside a synoptic classification in which †Zigrasimeciinaestat. nov. and †Myanmyrma marauderacomb. nov. are recognized. Finally, a brief diagnosis of the Formicoidea is outlined.

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Fossil Social Insects

Cited by 13 publications

References 25 publications

Evolution and systematics of the Aculeata and kin (Hymenoptera), with emphasis on the ants (Formicoidea: †@@@idae fam. nov., Formicidae)

Evolution and systematics of the Aculeata and kin (Hymenoptera), with emphasis on the ants (Formicoidea: †@@@idae fam. nov., Formicidae)

Revising dating estimates and the antiquity of eusociality in termites using the fossilized birth–death process

†Camelosphecia gen. nov., lost ant-wasp intermediates from the mid-Cretaceous (Hymenoptera, Formicoidea)

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