When phylogeny meets geology and chemistry: doubts on the dating of Ethiopian amber |
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| Authors: | David Coty Matthieu Lebon André Nel |
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| Institution: | 1. Institut de Systématique, évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB – UMR 7205 – CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, F-75005 Paris, France;2. équipe ‘Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique’ (HNHP), UMR 7194 – CNRS Département de Préhistoire du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Université Perpignan Via Domitia, Musée de l’Homme, 17 Place du Trocadéro, F-75116 Paris, France |
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| Abstract: | The first fossil species of a Melissotarsus ant is described (Melissotarsus ethiopiensis n. sp.), suggesting that Ethiopian amber could be cenozoic rather than cretaceous. This hypothesis is supported by a Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis of the amber itself, suggesting a weak maturation of the fossil resin, and a revision of the pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (PY-GC-MS) analysis done by Schmidt and his collaborators in 2010, in an article in which the deposit was described for the first time. |
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| Keywords: | Ethiopian amber Insecta Formicidae Melissotarsus Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy |
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