The Titanoecoidea or titanoecoids are a proposed
taxon
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...
of
araneomorph
The Araneomorphae (also called the Labidognatha or "true spiders") are an infraorder of spiders. They are distinguishable by chelicerae (fangs) that point diagonally forward and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae (taran ...
spider
Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
s at the superfamily
rank
A rank is a position in a hierarchy. It can be formally recognized—for example, cardinal, chief executive officer, general, professor—or unofficial.
People Formal ranks
* Academic rank
* Corporate title
* Diplomatic rank
* Hierarchy ...
. The taxon contains two
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 ...
of spiders,
Phyxelididae
Phyxelididae is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Pekka T. Lehtinen in 1967 as a subfamily of Amaurobiidae, and later elevated to family status as a sister group of Titanoecidae.
Genera
, the World Spider Catalog
The World ...
and
Titanoecidae
Titanoecidae is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Pekka T. Lehtinen in 1967. It is fairly widespread in the New World and Eurasia with five genera and more than 50 species worldwide. These are mostly dark-colored builders of "wool ...
. Although some
phylogenetic studies have shown these two families to form a clade,
[ other studies have not, placing Titanoecidae outside the ]RTA clade
The RTA clade is a clade of araneomorph spiders, united by the possession of a retrolateral tibial apophysis – a backward-facing projection on the tibia of the male pedipalp. The clade contains over 21,000 species, almost half the current total ...
while Phyxelididae is placed inside it.[ A 2011 classification of spider families leaves both Phyxelididae and Titanoecidae outside the RTA clade as "unplaced non- Orbiculariae families".][ The status of the group remains unclear .
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q54920
Araneomorphae
Arachnid superfamilies