Pheidole chaan

Introduction

Pheidole chaan is an extinct ant species preserved in Mexican amber from the Early Miocene epoch, approximately 20 million years ago. This tiny ant was discovered in the Simojovel region of Chiapas, Mexico, and represents the first documented case of two different castes (a soldier and a worker) found preserved together in amber . The species name 'chaan' comes from the Mayan language meaning 'tiny, small, ' referring to the ant's diminutive size . Workers measured just 1.3 mm in body length, making them among the smallest Pheidole species ever discovered .