Tetraponera groehni

Introduction

Tetraponera groehni is an extinct ant species that lived approximately 44 million years ago during the Late Eocene period. It was preserved in Baltic amber, making it a rare window into ancient insect ecosystems. Workers measured around 8mm in body length, placing them among the larger ant species known from the fossil record. The species belongs to the subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae, a group of slender, fast-moving ants that are still alive today in tropical regions worldwide. This fossil represents a tropical ant species found in European amber deposits, showing that the climate in what is now northern Europe was considerably warmer during the Eocene . The preserved specimen shows detailed morphological features including distinct body proportions, eye structure, and body sculpturing that allow scientists to classify it within the genus Tetraponera.