Cephalotes obscurus

Introduction

Cephalotes obscurus is an extinct ant species known only from fossil specimens preserved in Dominican amber from the Miocene epoch. The workers measured approximately 4.5mm in total length and exhibited the distinctive features of the genus, including a flattened head and specialized body sculpture with dense foveae (small pits). This species belonged to the coffeae clade and was originally described in 1995 as Zacryptocerus obscurus before being transferred to the genus Cephalotes in 1999. The species can be identified by its unarmed propodeum (lacking spines), long continuous pronotal lamellae, and a pair of denticles on the vertex of the head .