Pauropoda is a class of small, pale, millipede-like arthropods in the subphylum Myriapoda. More than 900 species in twelve families are found worldwide, living in soil and leaf mold. Pauropods look like centipedes or millipedes and may be a sister group of the latter, but a close relationship with Symphyla has also been posited. The name Pauropoda derives from the Greek pauros and pous or podus, because most species in this class have only nine pairs of legs as adults, a smaller number than those found among adults in any other class of myriapods.
Symphylans, also known as garden centipedes or pseudocentipedes, are soil-dwelling arthropods of the class Symphyla in the subphylum Myriapoda. Symphylans resemble centipedes, but are very small, non-venomous, and only distantly related to both centipedes and millipedes. More than 200 species are known worldwide.
Pauropodidae is the most diverse family of pauropods, containing 27 genera and more than 800 species. This family has a subcosmopolitan distribution. These pauropods usually live in the soil on mountains and hills. This family also includes the only known fossil pauropod (Eopauropus).
Baltic amber or succinite is amber from the Baltic region, home of its largest known deposits. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that this forested region provided the resin for more than 100,000 tons of amber. Today, more than 90% of the world's amber comes from Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. It is a major source of income for the region; the local Kaliningrad Amber Combine extracted 250 tonnes of it in 2014 and 400 tonnes in 2015. Baltic amber is also found in Poland, as well as the Baltic states.
Tertiapatus is an extinct genus of supposed onychophoran known from Dominican amber deposits. The only known species described is Tertiapatus dominicanus. Other authors have doubted its status as an onchyophoran, due to its arthropodized antennae and articulated exoskeleton, which suggests that it is likely an arthropod.
Succinipatopsis is an extinct genus, originally described as an onychophoran known from Eocene-aged Baltic amber. The only known species is Succinipatopsis balticus. However, other authors have doubted its status as an onchyophoran, due to its skin not closely resembling that of onchyophorans, and lacking any diagnostic characters of the group.
Micropalaeosoma balticus was reported as an extinct, fossil turbellarian flatworm known from Baltic amber of Kaliningrad, Russia, that lived approximately 40 million years ago. It measured approximately 1.5 mm in length. It was considered the oldest and most complete free-living flatworm body fossil. However, much older flatworm fossils have been reported and it has been re-interpreted as a pseudo-inclusion.
Asymphylomyrmex is an extinct genus of ants in the formicid subfamily Formicinae. The genus contains a single described species, Asymphylomyrmex balticus and is known from a group of Middle Eocene fossils which were found in Europe.
Notoscyphus balticus is an extinct species of liverwort in the family Geocalycaceae. The species is solely known from the Middle Eocene Baltic amber deposits in the Baltic Sea region of Europe. The genus contains a total of thirteen extant species distributed across the northern hemisphere.
Elephantomyia (Elephantomyia) baltica is an extinct species of crane fly in the family Limoniidae. The species is solely known from the Middle Eocene Baltic amber deposits in the Baltic Sea region of Europe. The species is one of six described from Baltic amber.
Elephantomyia (Elephantomyia) brevipalpa is an extinct species of crane fly in the family Limoniidae. The species is solely known from the Middle Eocene Baltic amber deposits in the Baltic Sea region of Europe. The species is one of six described from Baltic amber.
Elephantomyia (Elephantomyia) pulchella is an extinct species of crane fly in the family Limoniidae. The species is solely known from the Middle Eocene Baltic amber deposits in the Baltic Sea region of Europe. The species is one of six described from Baltic amber.
Millotauropus is a genus of pauropods in the monotypic family Millotauropodidae in the monotypic order Hexamerocerata. The order Hexamerocerata includes only eight species and was created in 1950 to contain the newly discovered genus Millotauropus, which was found to have so many distinctive features as to warrant placement in a separate order. Before the discovery of Millotauropus, for example, pauropods were thought to have no more than ten leg pairs, but adults in the order Hexamerocerata have eleven pairs of legs.
Tetramerocerata is an order of pauropods containing 11 families and more than 900 species. This order was created in 1950 to distinguish these pauropods from those in the newly discovered genus Millotauropus, which was found to have such distinctive features as to warrant placement in a separate order (Hexamerocerata) created to contain that genus. The order Tetramerocerata includes the vast majority of pauropod species, as there are only eight species in the order Hexamerocerata, which remains the only other order in the class Pauropoda.
Brachypauropodidae is a family of pauropods. This family has a nearly worldwide distribution. Pauropods in this family are found on all continents except South America and Antarctica.
Scutigerellidae is a family of pseudocentipedes in the class Symphyla. There are about 5 genera and at least 140 described species in Scutigerellidae.
The Prussian Formation, previously known as the Amber Formation, is a geologic formation in Prussia, today mostly Kaliningrad Oblast that dates to the Eocene. It holds 90% of the world's amber supply and Baltic amber is found exclusively in the Prussian Formation.
Zygopauropus is a monotypic genus of pauropod in the family Brachypauropodidae. The only species in this genus is Zygopauropus hesperius, first described by J.W. MacSwain and U.N. Lanham of the University of California at Berkeley in 1948. This genus is notable as one of only four genera of pauropods in which adults have only eight pairs of legs rather than the nine leg pairs usually found in adults in the order Tetramerocerata. Before the discovery of Z. hesperius, adult pauropods were thought to have only nine or (rarely) ten pairs of legs.
Decapauropus is a large genus of pauropods in the family Pauropodidae that includes more than 300 species. This genus was originally described by the French zoologist Paul Remy in 1931 to contain the newly discovered type species Decapauropus cuenoti. As the name of this genus suggests, this genus is notable for including females with ten pairs of legs instead of the nine leg pairs usually found in adult pauropods in the order Tetramerocerata. Before the discovery of D. cuenoti, adult pauropods were thought to have invariably nine pairs of legs.
Decapauropus cuenoti is a species of pauropod in the family Pauropodidae. As the name of the genus Decapauropus suggests, this species is notable for including females with ten pairs of legs instead of the nine leg pairs usually found in adult pauropods in the order Tetramerocerata. Before the discovery of D. cuenoti, adult pauropods were thought to have invariably nine pairs of legs.
