Baikuris
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Baikuris Temporal range: Albian–Campanian, 100–72.1 Ma |
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| B. mandibularis male, holotype | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | †Sphecomyrminae |
| Tribe: | †Sphecomyrmini |
| Genus: |
†Baikuris Dlussky, 1987 |
| Type species | |
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Baikuris mandibularis |
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| Species | |
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Baikuris is an extinct genus of ant in the Formicidae subfamily Sphecomyrminae, and is currently placed in the tribe Sphecomyrmini. The genus contains four described species: the type species Baikuris mandibularis, along with Baikuris casei, Baikuris maximus, and Baikuris mirabilis.
The type species B. mandibularis along with B. mirabilis were identified from adults preserved as inclusion in Taimyr amber. The fossils of both species were collected on an expedition to the Taimyr peninsula. The ambers of the peninsula occur in the upper levels of the Kheta Formation, which is exposed in a number of locations in the Taimyr region. Age estimates of the Kheta Formation are between the Coniacian and Santonian, and the ambers are found consistently in the upper most units, giving a Santonian age range for the inclusions. Based on the flora and fauna of the Ledyanaya and Mutino Formations which surround the Kheta formation, the paleoforest likely has a humid and warm temperate climate with the tees growing along river banks. While the resin producing trees have not been identified, the resins were likely dropped into the river systems and buried quickly in deltaic sediments.
Both the holotype and the second specimen for B. casei are adult males which have been preserved as inclusions in transparent chunks of New Jersey amber. The amber specimens were recovered from deposits of the South Amboy Fire Clay, part of the Raritan Formation. New Jersey amber has been dated to approximately 90 to 94 mya, placing it in the Turonian of the Late Cretaceous. Analysis of the amber composition indicates it originated as cupressaceous resins which were deposited in lagoons and salt water marshes along the Cretaceous eastern seaboard.
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