Mastotermitidae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Supercohort: Polyneoptera
Cohort: Dictyoptera
Ordo: Isoptera

Familia: Mastotermitidae
Genera: Mastotermes – †Blattotermes – †Khanitermes – †Miotermes – †Spargotermes – †Valditermes

[sources: Wappler & Engel (2006: 381, table 1), Engel, Grimaldi & Krishna (2007)]
Name

Mastotermitidae

Synonyms

Pliotermitidae Pongrácz, 1917
Miotermitidae Pongrácz, 1926

References

Engel, M.S.; Grimaldi, D.A.; Krishna, K. 2007: Primitive termites from the Early Cretaceous of Asia (Isoptera). Stuttgarter Beitraege zur Naturkunde serie B (geologie und palaeontologie), (371): 1–32. PDF
Engel, M.S.; Krishna, K. 2007: Two overlooked family-group names for fossil termites (Isoptera: Mastotermitidae). Entomological news, 118(1): 105–106. DOI: 10.3157/0013-872X(2007)118[105:TOFNFF]2.0.CO;2
Wappler, T.; Engel, M.S. 2006: A new record of Mastotermes from the Eocene of Germany (Isoptera: Mastotermitidae). Journal of paleontology, 80(2): 380–385. DOI: 10.1666/0022-3360(2006)080[0380:ANROMF]2.0.CO;2 JSTOR

Links

Tree of Life Web Project. 2003. Mastotermitidae. Giant Northern termite of Australia and extinct relatives. Version 01 January 2003 (temporary) in The Tree of Life Web Project

Mastotermitidae is a family of termites with one sole living species, Mastotermes darwiniensis which is found only in northern Australia. The remaining genera of this family are only known from the fossil record.
Fossil record

Numerous fossil taxa have been described in the Mastotermitidae, as well as in the genus Mastotermes. The family seems to have had a worldwide distribution until just a few million years ago, when all but the ancestors of the giant northern termite became extinct for unknown reasons.

Genera included in the Mastotermitidae are:[2]

Anisotermes Zhao et al Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
Blattotermes Riek (Eocene-Oligocene of France, USA, and Australia)
Garmitermes Engel, Grimaldi, & Krishna Baltic amber, Eocene
Idanotermes Engel Baltic amber, Eocene
Khanitermes Engel, Grimaldi, & Krishna Shar-Tolgoy Formation, Dzun-Bain Formation, Mongolia, Aptian
Mastotermes Froggatt (Cretaceous-Recent of Europe, Central America and Australia)
Miotermes Rosen (Miocene of Croatia, Germany, and France)
Spargotermes Emerson (Miocene-Pliocene of Brazil)
Valditermes Jarzembowski Weald Clay, United Kingdom, Hauterivian

References

Wang, Yan-hui; Engel, Michael S.; Rafael, José A.; Wu, Hao-yang; Rédei, Dávid; Xie, Qiang; Wang, Gang; Liu, Xiao-guang; Bu, Wen-jun (2016). "Fossil record of stem groups employed in evaluating the chronogram of insects (Arthropoda: Hexapoda)". Scientific Reports. 6: 38939. doi:10.1038/srep38939. PMC 5154178. PMID 27958352.
Krishna, K., D.A. Grimaldi, V. Krishna, & M.S. Engel (2013) Treatise on the Isoptera of the world. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 377: 1-2704.