A New Interpretation of the Oldest Fossil Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

By M. Engel. 2000

126 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract The oldest fossil bee, “Trigona” prisca (Apidae: Meliponini), in Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) amber from New Jersey, is redescribed and figured. Differences between T. prisca and extant Trigona are noted and the fossil is transferred into a new genus, Cretotrigona. An exploratory cladistic analysis of the Meliponini is undertaken and Cretotrigona supported as sister to the African genus Dactylurina. Affinities between Cretotrigona and recent genera are discussed as are implications of the presence of this derived stingless bee group at the end of the Mesozoic.

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Genetics, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8e5d022ab3ea34dbb9fb5f141dcbdc0fc3b73d23

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In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

1. D. Grimaldi
2. C. Rasmussen
3. M. Engel
4. S. Cameron
5. Paul c. Nascimbene
6. A. Newton
7. C. Labandeira
8. L. Mound

In Genetics

1. D. Grimaldi
2. C. Rasmussen
3. M. Engel
4. S. Cameron
5. Paul c. Nascimbene
6. C. Labandeira
7. A. Newton
8. L. Mound

In Plant Science

1. D. Grimaldi
2. C. Rasmussen
3. S. Cameron

Citations in the corpus

• A molecular phylogeny of the Old World stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) and the non‐monophyly of the large genus Trigona (2007, background): “…meliponine (Cretotrigona prisca) from New Jersey amber that apparently dates to the Late Cretaceous (Michener & Grimaldi, 1988a, b; Grimaldi, 1999; Engel, 2000), although controversy surrounds the Correspondence: Claus Rasmussen, Department of Entomology, 320 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave.,…”
• Fossiliferous Cretaceous Amber from Myanmar (Burma): Its Rediscovery, Biotic Diversity, and Paleontological Significance (2002, background): “Presently, the only definitively Cretaceous bee is a single specimen preserved in putatively Maastrichtian-aged amber from New Jersey (Michener and Grimaldi, 1988; Engel, 2000).”
• A MONOGRAPH OF THE BALTIC AMBER BEES AND EVOLUTION OF THE APOIDEA (HYMENOPTERA) (2001, background): “1944, 1965, 2000a; Snodgrass, 1956; Camargo et al., 1967; Urban, 1967; Eickwort, 1969; Pesenko, 1983; Engel, 2000a) and the ensuing section is not meant to entirely supplant those.”