Cephalotes squamosus

Introduction

Cephalotes squamosus is an extinct ant species known only from fossil specimens preserved in Dominican amber from the Miocene epoch, approximately 15-20 million years ago. Workers measured 3.96-6.52mm in total length, making them small to medium-sized ants. The species belongs to the multispinosus clade and is characterized by a pair of denticles on the vertex, long pronotal lamellae, and the absence of gastral spots. The head is subquadrate, and the body features various lamellae and sculpturing patterns typical of Cephalotes fossils. This species was originally described as Zacryptocerus squamosus in 1995 before being transferred to the genus Cephalotes in 1999 . Fossil specimens of C. squamosus have been used along with C. poinari and C. hispaniolicus to calibrate the phylogenetic node uniting the multispinosus group .