Daidalidae
''Daidal'' (named after a spirit in Takelma mythology) is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived during the Carboniferous period. It is the only genus in the family Daidalidae. Three species are currently placed within the genus. Fossils of the type species, ''D. acanthocercus'', have been found in the Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana. A second species, ''D. pattoni'', is known from the Lower Limestone Formation of Scotland, and the third species, ''D. schoellmanni'', was discovered in Westphalia, Germany. The genus has been proposed to be polyphyletic, with ''D. pattoni'' possibly being an earlier diverging lineage, though more specimens and research are needed to confirm this. Taxonomic history Fossilized remains of ''Daidal'' were first described almost a century before the genus was named. In 1908, Ben Peach studied several crustacean fossils from the Carboniferous deposits in Scotland, and erected the species ''Perimecturus pattoni'' based on a single specimen (G 1887. ...
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