Haptopoda

Taxobox
name = Haptopoda


image_caption =
image_width = 250px
fossil_range = Upper Carboniferous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Arachnida
ordo = Haptopoda
familia = Plesiosironidae
familia_authority = Pocock, 1911
genus = "Plesiosiro"
genus_authority = Pockock, 1911
species = "P. madeleyi"
binomial = "Plesiosiro madeleyi"
binomial_authority = Pockock, 1911
range_

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synonyms =

Haptopoda is an extinct arachnid order known exclusively from a few specimens from the Upper Carboniferous of Coseley, Staffordshire, UK. It is monotypic, i.e., has only one species, "Plesiosiro madeleyi" Pocock, 1911 [Pocock, R.I. 1911. "A monograph of the terrestrial Carboniferous Arachnida of Great Britain." Monographs of the Palaeontographical Society, London, 84 pp.] ; which was redescribed in 1999 [Dunlop, J.A. 1999. "Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences", 90: 29-47.] .Relationships with other arachnids are obscure. The genus name implies affinities with Opiliones (harvestman), but the most recent study recognises a group named Schizotarsata Shultz, 2007 [Shultz, J.W. 2007. "Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society" 150: 221-265.] comprising Haptopoda, Amblypygi (whip spiders), Uropygi (whip scorpions) and Schizomida (schizomids). All share the character of a subdivided tarsus (or 'foot').

Names

The order has also been called Haptopodida, the ending -ida originated when Petrunkevitch (1955) [Petrunkevitch, A. (1955). Arachnida, p. 42-162. In R. C. Moore (ed.), "Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Pt. P, Arthropoda 2". Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.] tried to standardize the endings of the arachnid orders, which is unnecessary and unwarranted according to the ICZN.

"Plesiosiro" means "close to "Siro", which is a genus of cyphophthalmid (Cyphophthalmi) harvestman that in overall appearance resembles the reconstructed body plan of the haptopods.

Haptopoda originates from Greek "haptos" (= tangible, subject to the sense of touch) + "pous, podos" (= foot) and refers to its quite long front pair of legs with their subdivided tips which look as though they might have been used to 'feel' their way around in front of the animal.

ubtaxa included

The haptopods have a single family which has a single genus and a single species:

Plesiosironidae Pocock, 1911
*"Plesiosiro" Pocock, 1911:*"Plesiosiro madeleyi" Pocock, 1911

References