Offacolidae Explained

Offacolidae is a family of basal euchelicerate arthropods from the Ordovician and Silurian of Europe, Morocco and North America.[1] [2] The family is united by several features, including paddle-like sixth post-cheliceral appendages, elongated chelicerae, and reduced first tergites (although these are apparently not unique to the clade, but instead euchelicerate or wider synapomorphies, therefore making the clade paraphyletic). They share with most other euchelicerates a wide carapace, which has led to them being placed in the paraphyletic “Synziphosurina” for a long time, however more detailed studies have led to them being separated.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Lustri . Lorenzo . Antcliffe . Jonathan B. . Gueriau . Pierre . Daley . Allison C. . New specimens of Bunaia woodwardi Clarke, 1919 (Euchelicerata): a new member of Offacolidae providing insight supporting the Arachnomorpha . Royal Society Open Science . October 2024 . 11 . 10 . 10.1098/rsos.240499. 39479250 . 11524597 .
  2. Lustri . Lorenzo . Gueriau . Pierre . Daley . Allison C. . Lower Ordovician synziphosurine reveals early euchelicerate diversity and evolution . Nature Communications . 7 May 2024 . 15 . 1 . 10.1038/s41467-024-48013-w. 11076625 .
  3. Lamsdell . James C. . Revised systematics of Palaeozoic 'horseshoe crabs' and the myth of monophyletic Xiphosura: Re-evaluating the Monophyly of Xiphosura . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . January 2013 . 167 . 1 . 1–27 . 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00874.x.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Offacolidae".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.