biology

Messelepone

Messelepone is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Messelepone rather than just read about it. In short: Messelepone is an extinct genus of ants in the formicid subfamily Ponerinae described from fossils found in Europe. M. leptogenoides is the only species assigned to the genus, which is one of several Lutetian Ponerinae genera.

Key takeaways

Messelepone belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Messelepone to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Messelepone from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Messelepone is an extinct genus of ants in the formicid subfamily Ponerinae described from fossils found in Europe. M. leptogenoides is the only species assigned to the genus, which is one of several Lutetian Ponerinae genera.

History and classification When described, Messelepone was known from two fossil insects which are compression-impression fossils preserved in layers of soft sedimentary rock. Along with other well preserved insect fossils, the Messelepone specimens were collected from layers of the Lutetian Messel pit World Heritage Site. The formation is composed of brown coals, oil shales, and bituminous shale, which preserved numerous insects, fish, birds, reptiles, and terrestrial mammals as a notable lagerstätten. The area is a preserved maar lake which initially formed approximately 47 million years ago as the result of volcanic explosions. At the time of description, the holotype queen and paratype male specimens were preserved in the Senckenberg Research Station Messel fossil collections. The fossils were described by Gennady Dlussky and Sonja Wedmann in a 2012 paper on the poneromorph ants of Messel, with both the genus and species named in it. The genus name is a combination of the ant genus Ponera and Messel after the type locality. The specific epithet was derived from the modern ant genus name Leptogenys, which M. leptogenoides has similarities to. Messelepone is one of five extinct genera from three subfamilies which have species described from Messel Formation fossils by Dlussky and Wedmann in 2012. Three of the other genera Cephalopone, Cyrtopone, and Protopone are also placed in Ponerinae. The genus Casaleia is placed in Amblyoponinae, while the last genus Pseudectatomma is in Ectatomminae.

Description

The Messelepone queen was described as having an approximate body length of 14 millimetres (0.55 in) with a head that is distinctly small, the mesosoma being almost two times greater in length. The subtriangular mandibles are up to one half the head length and have toothed chewing faces. Like Protopone species, the antennae sockets are widely placed on the head, in contrast to those seen in Pachycondyla which are close together. The node-shaped petiole is shorter than the height, with a helcium that projects of the front face of the gasteral segment. Both the queen and male have a distinct petiole, rectangular in side view, similar to some species of Leptogenys. Both genders also have a gaster with the first segment shorter than the second segment. The queen has eyes that are oval in shape and placed slightly forward from the heads midpoint. The gena below the eyes are a little shorter than the eyes are wide. The rectangular petiole lacks a peduncle between it and the mesosoma. The male is smaller than the gyne, with an estimated body length of 7.3 mm (0.29 in). The eyes are round and the gena only half as long as the eyes are wide. The thirteen segmented antennae have a filifrom morphology and the scape is short. The second antenna segment is nearly the same length as wide, contrasting the next segment which is 3.5 times longer than wide. The mandibles are well developed and opposable, a feature that separates M. leptogenoides males from those of Pachycondyla species.

References

External links Media related to Messelepone at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Messelepone at Wikispecies

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Messelepone

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Messelepone claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Messelepone before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Messelepone ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Messelepone

In research: Messelepone appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Messelepone in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Messelepone is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Eocene insects, Fossil taxa described in 2012, Hymenoptera of Europe, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Messelepone outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Messelepone in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Messelepone means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Messelepone out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Messelepone in simple terms?

Why does Messelepone matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Messelepone?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Messelepone.