Pachycondyla lutzi
Extinct ant species from the Lutetian of Europe.
Pachycondyla lutzi is an extinct species of ant in the formicid subfamily Ponerinae. It is one of six Lutetian Pachycondyla species known from fossils found in Europe.
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History and classification
Pachycondyla lutzi was described from ten compression-impression fossils preserved in soft sedimentary rock. The specimens were collected from layers of the Lutetian Messel pit World Heritage Site, a formation of brown coals, oil shales, and bituminous shale that preserved numerous insects, fish, birds, reptiles, and terrestrial mammals as a notable lagerstätten. The area is a preserved maar lake that formed approximately 47 million years ago from volcanic explosions. The holotype, SMF MeI 11958, and the other nine specimens are held in the Senckenberg Research Station Messel fossil collections. The species was described by Gennady Dlussky and Sonja Wedmann in a 2012 paper on Messel poneromorph ants. The specific epithet "lutzi" honors Herbert Lutz, an early paleoentomologist of Messel ants. P. lutzi is one of six Pachycondyla species from the Messel Formation described in that same paper, the others being P. eocenica, P.? messeliana, P. parvula, P. petiolosa, and P. petrosa. Eight additional fossil Pachycondyla species have been described from North America, Europe, and Asia.
Description
Pachycondyla lutzi queens have a body length of approximately 11 to 15 mm. The head is slightly wider than long with rounded rear corners. The front margin of the clypeus is generally gradually rounded, with one specimen showing a weak concavity on the middle edge. The mandibles are subtriangular and each bears five to six fairly large teeth. The antennae are slender, with a scape extending toward the rear head margin and gradually tapering flagellomeres. The eyes are nearly rounded, very short ovals, placed forward of the head's midpoint. In the known worker, the scape reaches only the occipital margin, unlike in queens. The gaster was not preserved, so total length is estimated at 8 mm.
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