Aphaenogaster enspelensis

Introduction

Aphaenogaster enspelensis is an extinct fossil ant known only from a single winged queen preserved in the Enspel Oilshale of Germany, dating to the Upper Oligocene approximately 24.6-24.8 million years ago . The fossil queen was large, measuring about 11.32 mm in total body length, with distinctive broad-based propodeal spines on her thorax and strongly developed mandibles bearing more than six triangular teeth . This species holds the distinction of being the only confirmed Aphaenogaster species discovered in Oligocene deposits, with all other fossil reproductives from this period assigned to the related genus Paraphaenogaster . As an extinct species known solely from the fossil record, it exists only as a museum specimen and cannot be kept in captivity .