''Anthidium exhumatum'' is an extinct

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

mason bee Mason bee is a name now commonly used for species of bees in the genus ''Osmia'', of the family Megachilidae. Mason bees are named for their habit of using mud or other "masonry" products in constructing their nests, which are made in naturally ...

in the

Megachilidae Megachilidae is a cosmopolitan family of mostly solitary bees. Both that their pollen-carrying structure (called a '' scopa'') is restricted to the ventral surface of the abdomen (rather than mostly or exclusively on the hind legs as in other ...

genus ''

Anthidium ''Anthidium'' is a genus of bees often called carder or potter bees, who use conifer resin, plant hairs, mud, or a mix of them to build nests. They are in the family Megachilidae which is cosmopolitan in distribution and made up of species that ...

''. The species is solely known from the

late Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "d ...

Chadronian The Chadronian age within the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology is the North American faunal stage typically set from 38,000,000 to 33,900,000 years BP, a period of . It is usually considered to fall within the Eocene epoch. The Chadroni ...

stage,

Florissant Formation The Florissant Formation is a sedimentary geologic formation outcropping around Florissant, Teller County, Colorado. The formation is noted for the abundant and exceptionally preserved insect and plant fossils that are found in the mudstones and ...

deposits in

Florissant, Colorado Florissant is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Teller County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Flori ...

, USA. ''Anthidium exhumatum'' is one of only four extinct species of mason bees known from the

fossil record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

, and with ''

Anthidium scudderi ''Anthidium scudderi'' is an extinct species of mason bee in the Megachilidae genus ''Anthidium''. The species is solely known from the late Eocene, Chadronian stage, Florissant Formation deposits in Florissant, Colorado, USA. ''Anthidiu ...

'', one of two species from the Florissant Formation.

History and classification

The species is known only from three fossils, the holotype and an additional fossil not designated a

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...

. The holotype, number "No. 2003", is a single male specimen consisting of part and counterpart fossils, originally part of the

Samuel Hubbard Scudder Samuel Hubbard Scudder (April 13, 1837 – May 17, 1911) was an American entomologist and paleontologist. He was a leading figure in entomology during his lifetime and the founder of insect paleontology in America. In addition to fossil insects, ...

collection as specimens "No. 13,709" and "No. 11,388". The additional specimen, "No.8444", is a female; all three fossils are currently residing in

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

Museum of Comparative Zoology A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

paleoentomology The most recent understanding of the evolution of insects is based on studies of the following branches of science: molecular biology, insect morphology, paleontology, insect taxonomy, evolution, embryology, bioinformatics and scientific computing ...

collections. ''A. exhumatum'' was first studied by Theodore Cockerell, who published the

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have ...

in the ''

Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to: Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals) * Bulletin (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper * ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008) ** Bulletin Debate, ...

'', 1906. The derivation and meaning of the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''exhumatum'' ("dug up") was not specified by Cockerell in the type description.

Description

The holotype of ''Anthidium exhumatum'' is in length, however the body length is noted to probably be larger than in life due to crushing during fossilization. Both the head and thorax are a uniform dark coloration and were black in life and the

mesothorax The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments of the thorax of hexapods, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the mesonotum (dorsal), the mesosternum (ventral), and the mesopleuron (lateral) on ...

is rough in texture. The abdomen on contrast possesses large pale reddish bands which have no darkening along the margins and no spots visible. The female specimen, "No. 8444" had more strongly banded abdomen than that of the holotype male. The tip of the abdomen in the male is broadly rounded, a large section of which is occupied by the genitalia. The hind legs display flattened tarsi and the

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

have distinct and abundantly hairy

scopa ''Scopa'' (; literally "broom") is an Italian card game, and one of the three major national card games in Italy, the others being '' Briscola'' and '' Tresette''. It is also popular in Argentina and Brazil, brought in by Italian immigrants, mos ...

. The wings are clear with pale colored vein structure. The

marginal cell Marginal may refer to: * ''Marginal'' (album), the third album of the Belgian rock band Dead Man Ray, released in 2001 * ''Marginal'' (manga) * '' El Marginal'', Argentine TV series * Marginal seat or marginal constituency or marginal, in poli ...

of the wing is smaller than in the related ''Anthidium scudderi''. Given the overall the coloration and structure of the wings, both ''A. exhumatum'' and ''A. scudderi'' have been placed in the genus ''Anthidium''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthidium Exhumatum †exhumatum Priabonian insects Fossil bee taxa Eocene insects of North America Natural history of Colorado Fossil taxa described in 2007 Florissant Formation