Pseudotyrannochthoniidae

Pseudotyrannochthoniidae Temporal range: Eocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Pseudotyrannochthonius giganteus from Western Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Pseudoscorpiones
Superfamily:	Chthonioidea
Family:	Pseudotyrannochthoniidae Beier, 1932
Genera
See text

Pseudotyrannochthoniidae is a family of pseudoscorpions, belonging to the superfamily Chthonioidea. It is one of the most primitive living groups of pseudoscorpions and contains fewer than 100 species in 6 genera. Living members of the group have a strongly disjunct distribution, likely reflecting ancient vicariance, occurring in Australia, Asia, Southern Africa and Madagascar, Western North America and southern South America. Fossils species are known from the Eocene Baltic and Bitterfeld amber, which represent members of extant Asian genera. ^[1]

Taxonomy

• Afrochthonius Beier, 1930 South Africa, Madagascar and Sri Lanka
• Allochthonius Chamberlin, 1929 East Asia (Fossil species known from Baltic amber)
• Centrochthonius Beier, 1931 Central Asia (Fossil species known from Bitterfeld amber)
• Pseudotyrannochthonius Beier, 1930 from Chile, Australia, eastern Asia, and the western United States
• Selachochthonius Chamberlin, 1929 South Africa
• Spelaeochthonius Morikawa, 1954 East Asia

References

1. Schwarze, Daniel; Harms, Danilo; Hammel, Jörg U.; Kotthoff, Ulrich (2021-06-22). "The first fossils of the most basal pseudoscorpion family (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae): evidence for major biogeographical shifts in the European paleofauna". PalZ. 96: 11–27. doi: 10.1007/s12542-021-00565-8 . ISSN   1867-6812.