The subphylum Chelicerata constitutes one of the major subdivisions of the phylum Arthropoda. Chelicerates include the sea spiders, horseshoe crabs, and arachnids, as well as a number of extinct lineages, such as the eurypterids and chasmataspidids.
Arachnida is a class of joint-legged arthropods, in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroons.
Schizomida, also known as sprickets or short-tailed whip-scorpions, is an order of arachnids, generally less than 5 millimetres (0.20 in) in length. The order is not yet widely studied. E. O. Wilson has identified schizomids as among the "groups of organisms that desperately need experts to work on them."
Uropygi is an arachnid order comprising invertebrates commonly known as whip scorpions or vinegaroons. They are often called uropygids. The name "whip scorpion" refers to their resemblance to true scorpions and possession of a whiplike tail, and "vinegaroon" refers to their ability when attacked to discharge an offensive, vinegar-smelling liquid, which contains acetic acid. The order may also be called Thelyphonida. Both names, Uropygi and Thelyphonida, may be used either in a narrow sense for the order of whip scorpions, or in a broad sense which includes the order Schizomida.
Ricinulei is a small order of arachnids. Like most arachnids, they are predatory, eating small arthropods. They occur today in west-central Africa (Ricinoides) and the Americas as far north as Texas. As of 2021, 91 extant species of ricinuleids have been described worldwide, all in the single family Ricinoididae. In older works they are sometimes referred to as Podogona. Due to their obscurity they do not have a proper common name, though in academic literature they are occasionally referred to as hooded tickspiders.
Pedipalps are the secondary pair of forward appendages among chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") and anterior to the first pair of walking legs.
Solifugae is an order of animals in the class Arachnida known variously as camel spiders, wind scorpions, sun spiders, or solifuges. The order includes more than 1,000 described species in about 147 genera. Despite the common names, they are neither true scorpions nor true spiders. Most species of Solifugae live in dry climates and feed opportunistically on ground-dwelling arthropods and other small animals. The largest species grow to a length of 12–15 cm (5–6 in), including legs. A number of urban legends exaggerate the size and speed of the Solifugae, and their potential danger to humans, which is negligible.
Xiphosura is an order of arthropods related to arachnids. They are more commonly known as horseshoe crabs. They first appeared in the Hirnantian. Currently, there are only four living species. Xiphosura contains one suborder, Xiphosurida, and several stem-genera.
Plesiosiro is an extinct arachnid genus known exclusively from nine specimens from the Upper Carboniferous of Coseley, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. The genus is monotypic, represented only by the species Plesiosiro madeleyi described by Reginald Innes Pocock in his important 1911 monograph on British Carboniferous arachnids. It is the only known member of the order Haptopoda.
The order Trigonotarbida is a group of extinct arachnids whose fossil record extends from the late Silurian to the early Permian. These animals are known from several localities in Europe and North America, as well as a single record from Argentina. Trigonotarbids can be envisaged as spider-like arachnids, but without silk-producing spinnerets. They ranged in size from a few millimetres to a few centimetres in body length and had segmented abdomens (opisthosoma), with the dorsal exoskeleton (tergites) across the backs of the animals' abdomens, which were characteristically divided into three or five separate plates. Probably living as predators on other arthropods, some later trigonotarbid species were quite heavily armoured and protected themselves with spines and tubercles. About seventy species are currently known, with most fossils originating from the Carboniferous coal measures.
Phrynus marginemaculatus, simply known as spotted tailless whip scorpion is a species of amblypygid found in southern Florida, the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola. They are nocturnal predators that hide during the day in small retreats.
Mastigoproctus giganteus, the giant whip scorpion, also called the giant vinegaroon or grampus, is a species of whip scorpions in the family Thelyphonidae. Its native range is from the Southern United States to Mexico.
Phrynus is a genus of whip spiders found in tropical and subtropical regions, mostly in the new world.
Phrynus longipes is a species of amblypygid native to the Caribbean region. They are protective of their territory, using their pedipalps to deter predators or unwanted visitors. Being nocturnal predators, they take shelter during the day and hunt primarily at night. Phrynus longipes feeds on primarily arthropods, but has been observed to prey upon small vertebrates.
Paraphrynus is a genus of whip spiders, also known as tailless whip scorpions, of the family Phrynidae. It is distributed from the southwestern United States to Central America, including several Caribbean islands. Most species are endemic to Mexico.
Phrynidae is a family of amblypygid arachnida arthropods also known as whip spiders and tailless whip scorpions. Phrynidae species are found in tropical and subtropical regions in North and South America. Some species are subterranean; all are nocturnal. At least some species of Phrynidae hold territories that they defend from other individuals.
Acanthophrynus is a genus of tailless whipscorpion in the family Phrynidae containing a single species, Acanthophrynus coronatus. This species is sometimes kept as a pet.
Weygoldtina is an extinct genus of tailless whip scorpion known from Carboniferous period, and the only known member of the family Weygoldtinidae. It is known from two species described from North America and England and originally described in the genus Graeophonus, which is now considered a nomen dubium.
Paracharontidae is an arachnid family within the order Amblypygi. Paracharontidae and the extinct Weygoldtinidae from the Carboniferous form the suborder Paleoamblypygi, the sister group to the remaining Amblypygi. The family contains two genera: Paracharon, containing the single species Paracharon caecus Hansen, 1921 from Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, and Jorottui with the single species Jorottui ipuanai from Colombia in northern South America. Paracharonopsis from the Eocene (Ypresian) aged Cambay amber of India was initially assigned to this family but this was later questioned and it has since been reassigned to Euamblypygi. Both living species are troglobites, having no eyes, with P. caecus living in termite nests, while J. ipuanai inhabits caves.
