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Mastotermes

Mastotermes is a genus of termites. The sole living species is Mastotermes darwiniensis, found only in northern Australia. A number of extinct taxa are known from fossils. It is a very peculiar insect, the most primitive termite alive. As such, it shows notable similarities to cockroaches in the family Cryptocercidae, the termites' closest relatives. These similarities include the anal lobe of the wing and the laying of eggs in bunches, rather than singly. The termites were traditionally placed in the Exopterygota, but such an indiscriminate treatment makes that group a paraphyletic grade of basal neopterans. Thus, the cockroaches, termites and their relatives are nowadays placed in a clade called Dictyoptera.

Fossil species
Numerous extinct taxa have been described in the genus Mastotermes. The genus had a worldwide distribution until just a few million years ago, when all but the M. darwiniensis became extinct. Fossil species of Mastotermes include: • Mastotermes aethiopicus Engel, Currano, & Jacobs, 2016 Ethiopia, Miocene • Mastotermes anglicus Rosen, 1913 (Bembridge Marls, England, PriabonianMastotermes bournemouthensis Rosen, 1913 (Late Eocene of England) • Mastotermes croaticus Rosen, 1913 (Early Miocene of Croatia) • Mastotermes electrodominicus Krishna & Grimaldi, 1991 (Early Miocene of the Dominican Republic) • Mastotermes electromexicus Krishna & Emerson, 1983 (Late Oligocene to Early Miocene Mexican amber) • Mastotermes gallica Nel, 1986 (Early Oligocene of France) • Mastotermes haidingeri (Heer, 1849) (Early Miocene of Croatia) • Mastotermes heerii (Göppert, 1855) (Late Oligocene of Poland) – tentatively placed in MastotermesMastotermes krishnorum Wappler & Engel, 2006 (Middle Eocene of Germany) • Mastotermes minor Pongrácz, 1928 (Early Miocene of Croatia) • Mastotermes minutus Nel & Bourguet, 2006 (Eocene of France) • Mastotermes monostichus Zhao et al. 2019 Burmese amber, Myanmar, CenomanianMastotermes nepropadyom Vršanský and Aristov 2014 Doronino Formation, Russia, BarremianMastotermes picardi Nel & Paicheler, 1993 (Late Oligocene of France) • Mastotermes sarthensis Schlüter, 1989 Bezonnais amber, France, Cenomanian • Mastotermites stuttgartensis Armbruster, 1941 (Middle Miocene of Germany) – tentatively placed in Mastotermes ==References==
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