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{{Short description|Extinct genus of termites}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range= {{Fossilrange|52|50|[[Ypresian]]}}
| image =ZooKeys-148-105-g001 Nanotermes isaacae.jpg
| image_caption = ''N. isaacae'' holotype
| genus = Nanotermes
| species = isaacae
| authority = [[Michael S. Engel|Engel]] & [[David Grimaldi (entomologist)|Grimaldi]], 2011
}}

'''''Nanotermes''''' is an [[extinct]] [[genus]] of [[termite]]s in the [[Isoptera]] family [[Termitidae]] known from only one [[Eocene]] fossil found in [[amber]] of the [[Khambhat|Cambay Basin]] ([[Gujarat]], India). The genus contains a single described species, '''''Nanotermes isaacae''''' placed tentatively in the subfamily [[Termitidae|Termitinae]].<ref name="Engel2011">{{Cite journal |last1=Engel |first1=M.S. |last2=Grimaldi |first2=D.A. |last3=Nascimbene |first3=P.C. |last4=Singh |first4=H. |year=2011 |title=The termites of Early Eocene Cambay amber, with the earliest record of the Termitidae (Isoptera) |journal= ZooKeys |issue=148 |pages = 105–123 |doi= 10.3897/zookeys.148.1797 |pmid=22287892 |pmc=3264413|doi-access=free |bibcode=2011ZooK..148..105E }}</ref>

==History and classification==
''Nanotermes'' is known from a single fossil, the [[holotype]] adult, which is an [[Inclusion (mineral)|inclusion]] in a transparent chunk of Cambay amber. The amber specimen, "Tad-262", is currently housed in the fossil collection of the [[Birbal Sahni]] Institute of Palaeobotany in [[Lucknow]], India. The holotype is composed of a mostly complete adult of indeterminate sex and minute overall size. Cambay amber dates to between 50 and 52 million years old, placing it in the Early to Mid [[Ypresian]] age of the Eocene, and was preserved in a [[brackish]] shore environment. The amber formed from a [[Dammar gum|dammar type resin]], which is produced mainly by trees in the family [[Dipterocarpaceae]].<ref name="Rust2010">{{Cite journal |last1=Rust |first1=J. |year=2010 |title=Biogeographic and evolutionary implications of a diverse paleobiota in amber from the early Eocene of India |journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=107 |issue=43 |pages=18360–18365 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1007407107|display-authors=etal |pmid=20974929 |pmc=2972964|bibcode=2010PNAS..10718360R |doi-access=free }}</ref> The holotype specimen was recovered from the [[Tadkeshwar]] [[lignite]] mine, located in [[Gujarat State]], during a collecting trip on 17–22 January 2010.<ref name="Engel2011"/> The fossil was first studied by paleoentomologists [[Michael S. Engel]] and [[David Grimaldi (entomologist)|David Grimaldi]], both of the [[American Museum of Natural History]].<ref name="Engel2011"/> Engel and Grimaldi's 2011 [[Type (biology)|type description]] of the new genus and species was published in the online journal ''[[ZooKeys]]''.<ref name="Engel2011"/> The genus name ''Nanotermes'' was coined as a combination of the [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''nanos'' meaning "small" and ''[[Termes (genus)|Termes]]'', the type genus of the [[Termitidae]]. This is in reference to the size of the adult, which is noted as possibly the smallest termite adult known.<ref name="Engel2011"/> The [[specific name (zoology)|specific epithet]] ''isaacae'' is in honor of Charlotte Isaac, who discovered the holotype and "many other interesting inclusions". ''Nanotermes'' is the oldest member of the Termitidae to be described to date, with the prior oldest being from the Late [[Oligocene]], 20 million years younger than the Cambay ambers.<ref name="Engel2011"/>

==Description==
''Nanotermes'' adults have a [[Animal coloration|coloration]] which ranges from dark brown on the majority of the head and abdomen, lightening to brown on the [[pronotum]], [[Labrum (arthropod mouthpart)|labrum]], and [[Clypeus (arthropod anatomy)|postclypeus]]. The color further pales on the legs and [[Antenna (biology)|antennae]] to a light brown, and to a white strip along the labrum's apical margin. The holotype has a length of {{convert|2.0|mm|in|abbr=on}} and sports wings that are {{convert|2.6|mm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Engel2011"/> Adults have a slightly oval head which is longer than wide with a sparse distribution of [[seta]]e. The antennae are generally moniliform in structure, thus having an appearance similar to a string of beads. They are composed of 12 segments (flagellomeres), which gradually increase in diameter from the base to the antenna tip. This is the lowest number of antennal segments found in the Termitidae, with some modern Syntermitinae genera coming close, having 13 segments. The presence of three pairs of spurs on the tibia is considered unusual for the Termitinae, leading Engel and Grimaldi to leave the fossil's placement among the Termitinae tentative.<ref name="Engel2011"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q6964160}}

[[Category:Termite genera]]
[[Category:Ypresian insects]]
[[Category:Insects described in 2011]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 2011]]
[[Category:Cenozoic insects of Asia]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Michael S. Engel]]
[[Category:Monotypic prehistoric insect genera]]

Nanotermes - Revision history

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