Pseudoniscidae is an extinct

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

synziphosurine Synziphosurina is a paraphyletic group of chelicerate arthropods previously thought to be basal horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura). It was later identified as a grade composed of various basal euchelicerates, eventually excluded from the monophyletic Xi ...

chelicerates The subphylum Chelicerata (from Neo-Latin, , ) constitutes one of the major subdivisions of the phylum Arthropoda. Chelicerates include the sea spiders, horseshoe crabs, and arachnids (including harvestmen, scorpions, spiders, solifuges, tic ...

that lived in the

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

. Pseudoniscidae is classified inside the

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

Planaterga Planaterga is a clade of prosomapod euchelicerates including several synziphosurid genera (mainly bunodids and pseudoniscids) and the group Dekatriata (which in turn includes arachnids, chasmataspidids and eurypterid Eurypterids, ofte ...

, alongside Bunodidae and

Dekatriata Dekatriata is a clade of planatergan chelicerates including the groups Arachnida, Chasmataspidida, Eurypterid Eurypterids, often informally called sea scorpions, are a group of extinct marine arthropods that form the Order (biology), order E ...

( chasmataspidids,

eurypterids Eurypterids, often informally called sea scorpions, are a group of extinct marine arthropods that form the order Eurypterida. The earliest known eurypterids date to the Darriwilian stage of the Ordovician period, 467.3 million years ago. The ...

and

arachnids Arachnids are arthropods in the class Arachnida () of the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroons. Adult arachnids ...

). Pseudoniscidae is composed by two

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

, '' Cyamocephalus'' and '' Pseudoniscus'' (the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...

References

Synziphosurina Planaterga Silurian first appearances Silurian arthropods Silurian extinctions Prehistoric arthropod families {{Chelicerata-stub