The Entomobryomorpha are one of the three main groups (

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

) of

springtail Springtails (class Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern Hexapoda, hexapods that are no longer considered insects. Although the three lineages are sometimes grouped together in a class called Entognatha because they have in ...

s (Collembola), tiny hexapods related to

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s. This group was formerly treated as a superfamily, the Entomobryoidea. They can be best distinguished from the other springtail groups by their body shape. The

Symphypleona The order Symphypleona, also known as the globular springtails, is one of the three main groups of springtails (Collembola), tiny hexapods related to insects. When the springtails were still believed to be an order of insects, the Symphypleona w ...

are very round animals, almost spherical. The

Poduromorpha The order (biology), order Poduromorpha is one of the three main groups of springtails (Collembola), tiny Hexapoda, hexapods related to insects. This group was formerly treated as a Taxonomic rank, superfamily Poduroidea. They can be best distin ...

are also very plump but have a more oval shape. The Entomobryomorpha, by contrast, contain the slimmest springtails. They either have short legs and antennae, but their long bodies set them apart, or long legs and antennae, as well as well-developed furculae; these are the most characteristic members of the order.

Systematics

The Entomobryomorpha were, as Entomobryoidea, united with the

(then called Poduroidea) in a group called "Arthropleona", but this has more recently turned out to be

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

. Actually, the Entomobryomorpha, the Poduromorpha, and the third springtaill lineage – the

– are equally distinct from each other. Their treatment at equal

taxonomic rank In biology, taxonomic rank (which some authors prefer to call nomenclatural rank because ranking is part of nomenclature rather than taxonomy proper, according to some definitions of these terms) is the relative or absolute level of a group of or ...

reflects this. Their rank has also varied a bit. When the springtails were still believed to be an order of insects, the "Arthropleona" and the Symphypleona were treated as

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

List of families

The superfamilies and

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

are arranged in the presumed

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

ary sequence. The list presented here follows a 2008 review of the Entomobryomorpha. The review abolishes the former "Actaletoidea", which is apparently

; its namesake family is now placed in the Isotomoidea, while the Coenaletidae form a new

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

superfamily. The former Cyphoderidae are demoted to a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of the Paronellidae. Superfamily Isotomoidea * Family Isotomidae * Family Actaletidae * Family Protentomobryidae (

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

) Superfamily Coenaletoidea * Family Coenaletidae Superfamily Tomoceroidea * Family Oncopoduridae * Family Tomoceridae Superfamily Entomobryoidea * Family Paronellidae – includes Cyphoderidae * Family Entomobryidae * Family Microfalculidae * Family Oncobryidae (fossil) * Family Praentomobryidae (fossil)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1045208 Arthropod orders Collembola

Systematics

List of families

See also

References