A Fossil Ant Colony : New

T h e fossil remains which will be described below are of exceptional interest for two reasons: ( I ) they are the first ant fossils to be reported from Africa south of the Sahara and (2) they comprise what appears to be a fragment of a colony preserved as a unit, thus constituting the first fossil insect colony ever recorded. From the sample we have been able to make measurements of the worker polymorphism and certain deductions concerning the biology and social structure of an ant species as it lived in the lower Miocene over 30 million years ago. W e are indebted to the Trustees and Director of the Coryndon Museum for the opportunity to study this unique material, which was collected by Dr . and Mrs. L. S. B. Leakey in the Lower Miocene deposits of Mfwangano Island, Lake Victoria, Kenya. Professor A. E. Emerson first identified the specimens as ants, realized their potential significance, and forwarded them to us for examination. T h e research program of which the study became a part is currently supported by Grant No. G B 1634 from the National Science Foundation.