Gigantotermes rex (lat.) Is a fossil termite species, the only one of the genus Gigantotermes from the Termitidae family. Found in Burmese amber ( Southeast Asia , Myanmar , Cretaceous , about 100 million years ago) [1] [2] [3] [4] .
| † Gigantotermes rex |
| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Subtype : | Tracheo-breathing |
| Infraclass : | Winged insects |
| Gender: | † Gigantotermes Engel et al. , 2016 |
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| International scientific name |
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Gigantotermes rex Engel et al. , 2016 [1] |
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Content
This is the oldest termite (along with the simultaneously described Krishnatermes yoddha ), in which sociality is discovered. In amber, a caste of soldiers was preserved, having a size very large for these public insects (about 2.5 cm). Earlier in such ancient finds of the Cretaceous period , only sexual individuals appeared: winged or wingless females and males. The previous oldest find with a working caste and soldiers, proving the existence of sociality, dates from the Miocene (17-20 million years ago). The species was first described in 2016 by American paleoentomologists Michael Angel ( Engel, Michael S. ), Phillip Barden ( Phillip Barden ), Mark Riccio ( Mark L. Riccio ) and David Grimaldi ( Grimaldi, David A. ) [1] .