1967/09/01 by Edward O. Wilson, Frank M. Carpenter, William L. Brown · 5 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior #Fossil Insects in Amber #Plant and animal studies
paper · doi:10.1126/science.157.3792.1038
openalex publication_date 1967/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Two worker ants preserved in amber of Upper Cretaceous age have been found in New Jersey. They are the first undisputed remains of social insects of Mesozoic age, extending the existence of social life in insects back to approximately 100 million years. They are also the earliest known fossils that can be assigned with certainty to aculeate Hymenoptera. The species, Sphecomyrma freyi, is considered to represent a new subfamily (Sphecomyrminae), more primitive than any previously known ant group. It forms a near-perfect link between certain nonsocial tiphiid wasps and the most primitive myrmecioid ants.