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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Basiceros enana, an extinct dirt ant, was reported from Dominican amber estimated to be about 16 million years old. The adult worker is the first fossil of its genus reported from the Caribbean, documenting a past island presence for ants whose living relatives are known from Central and South American rainforests.
What was the ant found in Caribbean amber?
The fossil is Basiceros enana, a newly described extinct species in the genus Basiceros, commonly called dirt ants. It is an adult worker preserved in Dominican amber dated to about 16 million years ago. The discovery was reported in a study titled A fossil-informed pattern of body size increase and local extinction in Basiceros dirt ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.2171).
Its length is reported as just over 5 millimetres; coverage compares that with living relatives that can reach roughly 9 millimetres. These are reported measurements, not evidence that B. enana was the smallest ant or predator of its time.
Why is Basiceros enana called a dirt ant?
Living Basiceros ants are known for hairs that pick up soil and leaf litter, helping them blend into the forest floor. The fossil reportedly preserves two hair types: longer, brush-like hairs associated with gathering debris, and shorter hairs that hold it close to the body. The resemblance supports the interpretation that this camouflage-related body form existed millions of years ago. A fossil’s anatomy alone cannot establish exactly how the ant behaved.
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Researchers examined the amber inclusion using micro-CT scanning and three-dimensional reconstruction. Senior author Phil Barden, associate professor of biology at NJIT, described the advantage of amber preservation: “Because amber preserves entire organisms in three dimensions, we can extract a ton of data from even a tiny ant.” The fossil is also reported to have a trapezoidal head and toothed mandibles.
What does the fossil tell us about the ant’s range?
Living Basiceros are reported from rainforests spanning Costa Rica to southern Brazil. The Dominican specimen is the first fossil of the genus reported from the Caribbean, showing that the group was present there in the past. The NJIT release says the genus has nine living species.
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The discovery does not establish how the ants reached the islands. An ancient land connection has been suggested as one possible route, but it is not demonstrated by this specimen. The fossil instead adds a former Caribbean occurrence to the known history of the genus. As Barden put it: “If you find a group of animals that only live in South America up to Costa Rica today, you really have no reason to expect that their early relatives lived in the Caribbean.”
When did the Caribbean population disappear?
Coverage places the Caribbean lineage’s local extinction in the Miocene, an interval spanning about 23 to 5.3 million years ago. The fossil supports the conclusion that Basiceros once lived in the region, but it does not pinpoint when or why that local population disappeared. Environmental change and competition have been suggested as possibilities; neither cause is resolved.
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The fossil is part of a wider pattern of ant losses on the island. Corresponding author Gianpiero Fiorentino, a Ph.D. candidate in NJIT’s Barden Lab, said: “Over a third of ant genera have gone extinct on the island of modern-day Dominican Republic since the formation of Dominican amber.” That statement concerns genera on that island—not ant species across the Caribbean.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why does one ant in amber matter?
Dirt ants are difficult to spot in the wild because their debris-covered bodies help them blend into their surroundings. Fiorentino said: “Dirt ants are rare finds in the wild. Finding one today is exciting given how well they stay hidden, but captured in amber, it’s like finding a diamond.” In this case, the amber preserves a three-dimensional specimen that can be studied for both its fine anatomy and its place in the genus’s history.
Rank #4
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- Collection size: high quality amber specimen, well preserved, each amber fossil is about 1 to 1.5 inch in diameter, with at least one detailed insect inclusion
- Educational value: These real samples of insects provide fascinating visual AIDS to the science classroom, strengthening the curriculum of paleontology, natural history, geology and the study of ancient life forms.
- Display: Complete specimen, professionally installed in a white display box, clearly visible. Packaged in a wooden gift box
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The find helps show that a group now reported from Central and South America once also occurred in the Caribbean. It does not, on its own, explain the group’s route into the islands or the reasons for its later local disappearance. Barden described the broader value this way: “This fossil is a piece of a larger puzzle that will help us understand why some groups of organisms undergo extinction and others stick it out for millions of years.”
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