Two ants (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae) from the Late Pliocene of Willershausen, Germany, with a nomenclatural note on the genus Camponotites

Abstract

Two species of the genus Camponotites (Formicidae, Formicinae) are described from the Late Pliocene deposits of Willershausen, Lower Saxony, northern Germany: C. silvestris Steinbach, 1967, and C. steinbachi n. sp. The generic name Camponotites has been established for fossil (Tertiary) ants independently by Steinbach (Bericht der Naturhistorischen Gesellschaft zu Hannover 111: [95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102] 1967) and by Dlussky (Trudy paleontologičeskogo instituta, akademiâ nauk SSSR, 1981), each for materials of different stratigraphical and geographical origin. Though poorly described, Camponotites Steinbach, 1967, and the single included (type) species C. silvestris Steinbach, 1967 (a monotypic species from the Late Pliocene of Willershausen), were based upon indication in the sense of the ICZN. Therefore, both the generic and specific names are valid and available. Camponotites Dlussky, 1981 (and its type species C. macropterus Dlussky, 1981) were certainly introduced correctly and are therefore available, too; but due to its homonymy the generic name is not valid. The revision shows that in this rare case both generic names are not only homonyms but also synonyms.

Exceptionally preserved extracellular bone matrix proteins from the late Neogene proboscidean Anancus (Mammalia: Proboscidea)

“…These sediments were deposited in a small meromictic lake with anoxic, hyaline bottom water (Meischner and Paul 1982;Meischner 1995Meischner , 2000. The great majority of Willershausen fossils have been excavated from the carbonatic sediments (e.g., Krüger 1979;Meischner and Paul 1982;Meischner 1995Meischner , 2000Dlussky et al 2011;Kolibáč et al 2016). This site is well known for exceptionally preserved fossils, including cuticles (e.g., Straus 1969;Briggs et al 1998;Knobloch 1998) and soft parts (e.g., Westphal 1967;Straus 1969;Rietschel and Storch 1974;Špinar 1980;Gehler and Reich 2012;Wolkenstein and Arp 2021).…”

Fossil weaver ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Oecophyllini) of the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands of far-western North America

“…However, as "Camponotites Steinbach" was unavailable, the collective group is Camponotites Dlussky, which does not compete for priority with Steinbach's nominal genus name (ICZN article 23.7.2, and see article 67.14). Treatments of Camponotites by other authors following the above are discussed by Dlussky et al (2011).…”

“…This intention was made explicit by Dlussky and Rasnitsyn (1999, p. 548, and 2003, p. 413) and Dlussky et al . (2011, p. 455).…”

“…When Dlussky et al . (2011) discovered the previous use of the name Camponotites by Steinbach, they considered it both a homonym and a synonym, transferring C. silvestris Steinbach to their collective genus, which they treated as Camponotites Steinbach. However, as “ Camponotites Steinbach” was unavailable, the collective group is Camponotites Dlussky, which does not compete for priority with Steinbach’s nominal genus name (ICZN article 23.7.2, and see article 67.14).…”

Fossil Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Middle Eocene Kishenehn Formation

“…It is unclear if the Kishenehn specimens represent one species or several. The use of the generic name Camponotites has been discussed extensively by Dlussky & Rasnitsyn (1999, 2002 and Dlussky et al (2011). It seems likely that Camponotites is in fact Camponotus, but the fossils of Camponotites examined to date lack critical morphological features for such a decision to be made.…”