Glypheoidea

Glypheoidea
fossil Mecochirus longimanus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Crustacea Class: Malacostraca Order: Decapoda Suborder: Pleocyemata Infraorder: Astacidea Superfamily: Glypheoidea Winkler, 1883
Families and Genera
Glypheidae Glyphea † Laurentaeglyphea Neoglyphea Mecochiridae † Mecochirus † Meyeria † Pseudoglyphea † Pemphicidae † Pemphix †

The Glypheoidea (containing the glypheoid lobsters), is a group of lobster-like decapod crustaceans which forms an important part of fossil faunas, such as the Solnhofen limestone. These fossils included taxa such as Glyphea (from which the group takes its name), and Mecochirus, mostly with elongated (often semichelate) chelipeds. The Glypheoidea was originally considered to be a purely fossil group. That opinion had to be altered when a single male specimen was discovered in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution in 1975. It had been caught off the Philippines in 1908 and preserved, without its full significance being realised. Over sixty years later, the specimen was rediscovered, and described as a new species, Neoglyphea inopinata, meaning "new Glyphea with no claws". More individuals were caught on subsequent expeditions in the late 1970s and early 1980s, allowing for a complete description. A second genus and species, Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica, was discovered in the Coral Sea, near New Caledonia, in 2005 ^[1][2] and described scientifically in 2006^[3]. This group of decapods is a good example of a living fossil, or a lazarus taxon, since until their discovery in the 1970s, the group was considered to have become extinct in the Eocene.

Drawing of the fossil Glyphea pseudastacus

The superfamily Glypheoidea comprises three families: the Glypheidae, Mecochiridae and Pemphicidae. There are two extant species, Neoglyphea inopinata and Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica, both of which are in the Glypheidae.

References