Adelophthalmoidea
| Adelophthalmidae Temporal range: Early Devonian - Middle Permian, 419.2–270 Ma |
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| Fossils of Adelophthalmus. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Merostomata |
| Order: | †Eurypterida |
| Superfamily: | †Adelophthalmoidea |
| Family: |
†Adelophthalmidae Tollerton, 1989 |
| Genera | |
The Adelophthalmidae are a family of eurypterids, an extinct group of merostomatan arthropods commonly known as "sea scorpions". The family is the only family included in the superfamily Adelophthalmoidea, which in turn is classified as part of the suborder Eurypterina.
Adelophthalmids were the longest lasting clade of eurypterines, becoming extinct in the Middle Permian, this is in part due to the survival of Adelophthalmus beyond the Middle Devonian. The earliest records of the genus are from the Early Devonian of western Germany, but following the amalgamation of Pangaea during the Carboniferous and Permian, the genus gained an almost cosmopolitan distribution. The basalmost species in the entire clade are from Baltica and most of the evolution within the basal members took place in Laurussia. By the Devonian, representatives were found in both Siberia and Australia long before the formation of Pangaea.
Though the last eurypterines, they were not the last eurypterids. The suborder Stylonurina lasted until the Permian-Triassic extinction event a few million years after the extinction of the adelophthalmids.
Superfamily Adelophthalmoidea Tollerton, 1989
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