Glypheoidea
| Glypheoidea | ||||||||||||||||
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| Missing image Glyphea.png fossil Glyphea pseudastacus | ||||||||||||||||
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The Glypheoidea (containing the glypheoid lobsters), is a group of lobster-like decapod crustaceans which forms an important part of fossil faunas, such as the Solnhofen limestone. These fossils included taxa such as Glyphea (from which the group takes its name), and Mecochirus, mostly with elongated (often semichelate) chelipeds. Although the Glypheoidea was considered for a long time to be a purely fossil group, that opinion had to be altered when a single male specimen was discovered in the collections of the Smithsonian Museum. It had been caught off the Philippines in 1908 and preserved, without its full significance being realised. Over sixty years later, the specimen was rediscovered, and described as a new species, Neoglyphea inopinata, meaning "new Glyphea with no claws". A few years later, on a return trip, more individuals were caught, including females, allowing a complete description.
This group of decapods is a good example of a living fossil, or a lazarus taxon, since until their discovery in the 1970s, the group was considered to have become extinct in the Eocene.
The superfamily Glypheoidea comprises three families: the Glypheidae, Mecochiridae and Pemphicidae, the only extant species being Neoglyphea inopinata in the Glypheidae.