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Emplastus

genus of ants (fossil)

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 28, 2024
Entity authorityQ18102521
Source-derived summary

Emplastus is an extinct morphogenus of ants in the subfamily Dolichoderinae, known from fossils found in Asia and Europe. The genus contains twelve species described from sites in England, Eastern Europe and Far Eastern Russia.

Distribution

Emplastus is known from a number of adult fossil specimens which are composed of partial adult males, female workers and queens. The first specimens described were preserved as compression fossils in sedimentary rock from the Radoboj area of what is now Croatia. The deposits are the result of sedimentation in an inland sea basin, possibly a shallow lagoon environment, during the Burdigalian of the Early Miocene. Along with the Emplastus species, a diverse assemblage of several hundred species of insects have been preserved in the sediments, along with fish and algae. The fossil impressions are preserved in micrite limestones, resulting in low quality preservation of fine details.

Another series of species were described from compression fossils found in thin layers and concretions of micrite from the "insect bed" and older stratum of the Bembridge Marls. The marls are exposed at a number of locations along the north coast of the Isle of Wight in England. Part of the Bouldnor Formation, the marls have been dated to the Late Eocene in age.

Editorial summary

“Emplastus” enters the record as genus of ants (fossil). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Emplastus, genus and ants can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current 207-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Emplastus, genus and ants.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Emplastus” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Emplastus, genus and ants provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 28, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q18102521. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

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  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Emplastus”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Emplastus primary sources, Emplastus archive and Emplastus research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Emplastus”?
  2. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
  3. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Emplastus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.