The Glypheoidea (containing the glypheoid lobsters), is a group of lobster-like Decapoda 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) . 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. The superfamily Glypheoidea comprises five families. The two extant taxon species, Neoglyphea inopinata and Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica, are both in the family Glypheidae.
Prehistoric abundance
The first animals attributable to the Glypheoidea appeared in the
Permian-
Triassic. They were abundant in the
Jurassic, but declined from the
Cretaceous to the
Eocene.
Extant taxa
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 by two French scientists as a new genus and species,
Neoglyphea inopinata in 1975,
meaning "unexpected new
Glyphea". More individuals were caught on subsequent expeditions in 1976, 1980 and 1985, allowing for a complete description.
A second species was discovered in the
Coral Sea, near
New Caledonia, in 2005. First described as
Neoglyphea neocaledonica, in 2006,
it has been transferred to a new genus
Laurentaeglyphea, much closer to fossil forms.
Classification
Five families are recognised, containing a total of 21 genera, all but two of which are extinct (extant taxa marked in boldface):
- *† Chimaerastacus
- *† Cedrillosa
- *† Glyphea
- * Laurentaeglyphea
- * Neoglyphea
- *† Paralitogaster
- *† Squamosoglyphea
- *† Trachysoma
- *† Huhatanka
- *† Jabaloya
- *† Mecochirus
- *† Meyeria
- *† Preatya
- *† Pseudoglyphea
- *† Selenisca
- *† Pemphix
- *† Pseudopemphix
- *† Sinopemphix
- *† Glaessnericaris
- *† Platychela
- *† Platypleon
