Phalangiotarbi (Haase, 1890) is an extinct arachnid order known exclusively from the Upper Carboniferous of Europe and North America.

The affinities of phalangiotarbids are obscure, with most authors favouring affinities with Opiliones (harvestmen) and/or Acari (mites and ticks). Phalangiotarbida has been recently proposed to be sister group to (Palpigradi+Tetrapulmonata): the taxon Megoperculata sensu Shultz (1990). (Pollitt et al., 2004).

Names

The order is also called Phalangiotarbida, the ending -ida originated when Petrunkevitch (1955) tried to standardize the endings of the arachnid orders, which is unnecessary and unwarranted according to the ICZN.

Architarbi Petrunkevitch 1945 is a synonym.

Subtaxa included

• Architarbidae Karsch 1882
• Opiliotarbidae Petrunkevitch 1949
• Heterotarbidae Petrunkevitch 1913

References

Dunlop, J. A. 1997. Palaeozoic arachnids and their significance for arachnid phylogeny. Proceedings of the 16th European Colloquium of Arachnology, 65-82.

Jessica R. Pollitt, Simon J. Braddy & Jason A. Dunlop (2004). The phylogenetic position of the extinct arachnid order Phalangiotarbida Haase, 1890, with reference to the fauna from the Writhlington Geological Nature Reserve (Somerset, UK). Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences, 94(3): 243-259.

Arachnids