Category
page 1Prehistoric chelicerate genera

Pterygotus
Pterygotus is an extinct genus of giant predatory eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Pterygotus have been discovered in deposits ranging in age from Middle Silurian to Late Devonian, and have been referred to several different species. Fossils have been recovered from five continents; Australia, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, which indicates that Pterygotus might have had a nearly cosmopolitan (worldwide) distribution. The type species, P. anglicus, was described by Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz in 1839, who gave it the name Pterygotus, meaning "wing

Eurypterus
Eurypterus ( ) is an extinct genus of eurypterid, a group of organisms commonly called "sea scorpions". The genus lived during the Silurian period, from around 432 to 418 million years ago. Eurypterus is by far the most well-studied and well-known eurypterid. Eurypterus fossil specimens probably represent more than 95% of all known eurypterid specimens.

Jaekelopterus
Jaekelopterus is an extinct genus of eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Jaekelopterus have been discovered in deposits of Middle Silurian to Early Devonian age, from the Wenlock epoch to Emsian stage.' There are three known species:' the type species J. rhenaniae from Devonian brackish to fresh water strata in the Rhineland, J. howelli from Devonian estuarine strata in Wyoming, and J. marylandicus from Silurian deposits in Maryland. The generic name combines the name of German paleontologist Otto Jaekel, who described the type species, and the Greek word () mean
Megalograptus
Megalograptus is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Megalograptus have been recovered in deposits of Katian (Late Ordovician) age in North America. The genus contains five species: M. alveolatus, M. ohioensis, M. shideleri, M. welchi and M. williamsae, all based on fossil material found in the United States. Fossils unassigned to any particular species have also been found in Canada. The generic name translates to "great writing" and originates from the mistaken original belief that Megalograptus was a type of graptolite, often given names ending with -gr

Mixopterus
Mixopterus is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Mixopterus have been discovered in deposits from Late Silurian age, and have been referred to several different species. Fossils have been recovered from two continents; Europe and North America. Mixopterus is the sole known representative of the eurypterid family Mixopteridae.''''''

Hibbertopterus
Hibbertopterus is a genus of eurypterid, a group of extinct marine arthropods. Fossils of Hibbertopterus have been discovered in deposits ranging from the Devonian period in Belgium, Scotland and the United States to the Carboniferous period in Scotland, Ireland, the Czech Republic and South Africa. The type species, H. scouleri, was first named as a species of the significantly different Eurypterus by Samuel Hibbert in 1836. The generic name Hibbertopterus, coined more than a century later, combines his name and the Greek word πτερόν (pteron) meaning "wing".

Acutiramus
Acutiramus is a genus of giant predatory eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Acutiramus have been discovered in deposits of Late Silurian to Early Devonian age. Eight species have been described, five from North America (including A. cummingsi, the type species) and two from the Czech Republic (with one of them potentially found in Australia as well). The generic name derives from Latin acuto ("acute" or "sharp") and Latin ramus ("branch"), referring to the acute angle of the final tooth of the claws relative to the rest of the claw.

Slimonia
Slimonia is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Slimonia have been discovered in deposits of Silurian age in South America and Europe. Classified as part of the family Slimonidae alongside the related Salteropterus, the genus contains three valid species, S. acuminata from Lesmahagow, Scotland, S. boliviana from Cochabamba, Bolivia and S. dubia from the Pentland Hills of Scotland and one dubious species, S. stylops, from Herefordshire, England. The generic name is derived from and honors Robert Slimon, a fossil collector and surgeon from Lesmahagow.

Mesolimulus
Mesolimulus is an extinct genus of horseshoe crab. The best known examples are found in Solnhofen limestone near Solnhofen, Bavaria, Germany. Originally assigned to the living genus Limulus, they are related to and look virtually identical to modern horseshoe crabs. Other species assigned to Mesolimulus have been recorded spanning over 140 million years from the Middle Triassic to Late Cretaceous from England, Spain, Siberia and Morocco.
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Stylonurus
Stylonurus is a genus of prehistoric eurypterid of the family Stylonuridae. The genus contains three species: Stylonurus powriensis from the Devonian of Scotland, Stylonurus shaffneri from the Devonian of Pennsylvania and Stylonurus perspicillum from the Devonian of Germany.
Lunataspis
Lunataspis is the oldest known xiphosuran, with three known species all dating from the late Ordovician (latest Sandbian for L. borealis, Katian for L. gundersoni, earliest Hirnantian for L. aurora).
Erettopterus
Erettopterus is a genus of large predatory eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Erettopterus have been discovered in deposits ranging from Early Silurian (the Rhuddanian age) to the Early Devonian (the Lochkovian age), and have been referred to several different species. Fossils have been recovered from three continents; Asia, Europe and North America. The genus name is composed by the Ancient Greek words ('), which means "rower", and ('), which means "wing", and therefore, "rower wing".
Carcinosoma
Carcinosoma (meaning "crab body") is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Carcinosoma are likely restricted to deposits of late Silurian to early Devonian (Llandovery to Lochkovian) age,'''' although an Early Ordovician specimen has been classified as ?Carcinosoma aurorae, which would make this the earliest known eurypterid genus. Classified as part of the family Carcinosomatidae, which the genus lends its name to, Carcinosoma'' contains several species from North America and Great Britain.
Drepanopterus
Drepanopterus is an extinct genus of eurypterid and the only member of the family Drepanopteridae within the Mycteropoidea superfamily. There are currently three species assigned to the genus. The genus has historically included more species, with nine species having been associated with the genus Drepanopterus. Five of these have since been proven to be synonyms of pre-existing species, assigned to their own genera, or found to be based on insubstantial fossil data. The holotype of one species proved to be a lithic clast.
Campylocephalus
Campylocephalus is a genus of eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Campylocephalus have been discovered in deposits ranging from the Carboniferous period in the Czech Republic (the species C. salmi) to the Permian period of Russia (species C. oculatus and C. permianus). The generic name is composed of the Greek words καμπύλος (kampýlos), meaning "curved", and κεφαλή (kephalē), meaning "head".
Hughmilleria
Hughmilleria is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Hughmilleria have been discovered in deposits of the Silurian age in China and the United States. Classified as part of the basal family Hughmilleriidae, the genus contains three species, H. shawangunk from the eastern United States, H. socialis from Pittsford, New York, and H. saetiger from Pennsylvania.'''''' The genus is named in honor of the Scottish geologist Hugh Miller.
Euproops
Euproops is an extinct genus of xiphosuran, related to the modern horseshoe crab. It lived during the Carboniferous Period.
Erieopterus
Erieopterus is a genus of prehistoric eurypterid found in Silurian to Devonian-aged marine and freshwater strata of North America. The genus contains three species from the Silurian to the Devonian.'''''''' Erieopterus'' is the only genus in the family Erieopteridae, part of the Dolichopteroidea superfamily.
Adelophthalmus
Adelophthalmus is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Adelophthalmus have been discovered in deposits ranging in age from the Early Devonian to the Early Permian, which makes it the longest lived of all known eurypterid genera, with a total temporal range of over 120 million years. Adelopththalmus was the final genus of the Eurypterina suborder of eurypterids and consisted the only known genus of swimming eurypterids from the Middle Devonian until its extinction during the Permian, after which the few surviving eurypterids were all walking forms of the sub
Onychopterella
Onychopterella ( , from Ancient Greek: ὄνῠξ (ónyx), "claw", and πτερόν (pteron), "wing") is a genus of predatory eurypterid ("sea scorpion"), an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Onychopterella have been discovered in deposits from the Late Ordovician to the Late Silurian. The genus contains three species: O. kokomoensis, the type species, from the Early Pridoli epoch of Indiana; O. pumilus, from the Early Llandovery epoch of Illinois, both from the United States; and O. augusti, from the Late Hirnantian to Early Rhuddanian stages of South Africa.
Eusarcana
Eusarcana (meaning "true flesh") is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Eusarcana have been discovered in deposits ranging in age from the Early Silurian to the Early Devonian. Classified as part of the family Carcinosomatidae, the genus contains three species, E. acrocephalus from Scotland and E. scorpionis and E. spiniferum from the United States.
Rhinocarcinosoma
Rhinocarcinosoma is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Rhinocarcinosoma have been discovered in deposits ranging of Late Silurian age in the United States, Canada and Vietnam. The genus contains three species, the American R. cicerops and R. vaningeni and the Vietnamese R. dosonensis. The generic name is derived from the related genus Carcinosoma, and the Greek ῥινός (rhinós, "nose"), referring to the unusual shovel-shaped protrusion on the front of the carapace (head plate) of Rhinocarcinosoma, its most distinctive feature.