Pilumnoidea Temporal range: Maastrichtian–Recent |
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Pilumnus hirtellus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Crustacea |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Infraorder: | Brachyura |
Section: | Eubrachyura |
Subsection: | Heterotremata |
Superfamily: |
Pilumnoidea Samouelle, 1819 |
Families | |
Pilumnoidea is a superfamily of crabs, whose members were previously included in the Xanthoidea. The three families are unified by the free articulation of all the segments of the male crab's abdomen and by the form of the gonopods. The earliest fossils assigned to this group are of Eocene age.
Pilumnidae is by far the largest of the three families, with 73 of the 78 genera: