Austrolimulidae is an extinct family of horseshoe crabs belonging to the infraorder Limulina. Members of the family are known from the Permian to the beginning of the Jurassic, though one species has been reported from the end of the Cretaceous. Austrolimulids are known for amongst the most extreme morphologies among Xiphosurids, including large elongated genal spines. Unlike living Limulids, Austrolimulids were likely adapted for freshwater and brackish environments.[1] They are considered to be the sister group to Limulidae, the group that contains all modern horseshoe crabs.[2]

Austrolimulidae
Temporal range: Kungurian–Hettangian
Fossils of Austrolimulus (top), Tasmaniolimulus (left), and Dubbolimulus (right)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Order: Xiphosura
Superfamily: Limuloidea
Family: Austrolimulidae
Riek, 1955

Genera

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References

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  1. ^ Bicknell, Russell D. C.; Pates, Stephen (2020). "Pictorial Atlas of Fossil and Extant Horseshoe Crabs, With Focus on Xiphosurida". Frontiers in Earth Science. 8: 98. Bibcode:2020FrEaS...8...98B. doi:10.3389/feart.2020.00098. ISSN 2296-6463.
  2. ^ a b Lamsdell, James C. (2020). "The phylogeny and systematics of Xiphosura". PeerJ. 8: e10431. doi:10.7717/peerj.10431. PMC 7720731. PMID 33335810.
  3. ^ Bicknell, Russell D. C.; Shcherbakov, Dmitry E. (30 June 2021). "New austrolimulid from Russia supports role of Early Triassic horseshoe crabs as opportunistic taxa". PeerJ. 9: e11709. doi:10.7717/peerj.11709. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 8254475. PMID 34249518.
  4. ^ Bicknell, Russell D. C.; Hecker, Andreas; Heyng, Alexander M. (2021-02-11). "New horseshoe crab fossil from Germany demonstrates post-Triassic extinction of Austrolimulidae". Geological Magazine. 158 (8): 1461–1471. Bibcode:2021GeoM..158.1461B. doi:10.1017/S0016756820001478. ISSN 0016-7568. S2CID 233937535.
  5. ^ Bicknell, Russell D. C. (2019-10-13). "Xiphosurid from the Upper Permian of Tasmania confirms Palaeozoic origin of Austrolimulidae". Palaeontologia Electronica. 22 (3): 1–13. doi:10.26879/1005. ISSN 1094-8074.
  6. ^ Bicknell, R. D. C.; Smith, P. M.; Brougham, T.; Bevitt, J. J. (2022). "An earliest Triassic age for Tasmaniolimulus and comments on synchrotron tomography of Gondwanan horseshoe crabs". PeerJ. 10: e13326. doi:10.7717/peerj.13326. PMC 9037155. PMID 35480564.
  7. ^ Lerner, Allan J.; Lucas, Spencer G.; Lockley, Martin (2017-12-01). "First fossil horseshoe crab (Xiphosurida) from the Triassic of North America". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 286 (3): 289–302. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2017/0702.