| Offacolidae Temporal range: Ordovician–Silurian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N | |
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| Restoration of Offacolus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Clade: | Euchelicerata |
| Family: | †Offacolidae Sutton et al., 2002 |
| Type species | |
| †Offacolus kingi Orr et al., 2000 | |
| Genera | |
Offacolidae is a family of basal euchelicerate arthropods from the Ordovician and Silurian of Europe, Morocco and North America. The family is united by several features, including paddle-like sixth post-cheliceral appendages, elongated chelicerae, and reduced first tergites (although these are apparently not unique to the clade, but instead euchelicerate or wider synapomorphies, therefore making the clade paraphyletic ). They share with most other euchelicerates a wide carapace, which has led to them being placed in the paraphyletic “Synziphosurina” for a long time, however more detailed studies have led to them being separated.
References
- Lustri, Lorenzo; Antcliffe, Jonathan B.; Gueriau, Pierre; Daley, Allison C. (October 2024). "New specimens of Bunaia woodwardi Clarke, 1919 (Euchelicerata): a new member of Offacolidae providing insight supporting the Arachnomorpha". Royal Society Open Science. 11 (10). doi:10.1098/rsos.240499. PMC 11524597. PMID 39479250.
- Lustri, Lorenzo; Gueriau, Pierre; Daley, Allison C. (7 May 2024). "Lower Ordovician synziphosurine reveals early euchelicerate diversity and evolution". Nature Communications. 15 (1). doi:10.1038/s41467-024-48013-w. PMC 11076625.
- Lamsdell, James C. (January 2013). "Revised systematics of Palaeozoic 'horseshoe crabs' and the myth of monophyletic Xiphosura: Re-evaluating the Monophyly of Xiphosura". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 167 (1): 1–27. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00874.x.
| Taxon identifiers | |
|---|---|
| Offacolidae | |
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