Aglaspida

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Aglaspida
Fossil range: Cambrian - ?Ordovician
Aglaspis spinifer
Aglaspis spinifer
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
(unranked) Aglaspida Walcott, 1911
Family
  • Aglaspididae
  • Lemoneitidae
  • Beckwithiidae
  •  ?Strabopidae

The Aglaspida were a group of small, horseshoe-like arthropods that were once regarded as being basal or ancestral horseshoe crabs. Now, though, they are regarded as a distinct group, either being close to the trilobites, or linking the trilobites with Chelicerata.

Aglaspid fossils are found throughout the world, including Missouri, Utah, Europe, and Australia.

As of 1997, Hou & Bergström split off Strabopidae (which were once regarded as being primitive eurypterids), including the genera Strabops, Paleomerus, Parapaleomerus, and Neostrabops, as its own distinct order/taxon, "Strabopida."

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