 In 1934 entomologist John S. Clark published a formal description of "Nothomyrmecia macrops" as a new species and within a completely new genus and tribe (Nothomyrmecii) of the Ponerinae.He did so because the two specimens (which then became the syntypes) bore no resemblance to any ant species he knew of, but they did share similar morphological characteristics with the extinct genus "Prionomyrmex".Clark notes that the head and mandibles of "Nothomyrmecia" and "Prionomyrmex" are somewhat similar, but the two can be distinguished by the appearance of the node (a segment between the mesosoma and gaster).