Temporal range: Early Devonian–Early Permian, 407.6–283.5 Ma
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Fossil specimen of A. mansfieldi illustrated by James Hall
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Chelicerata
Order:
†Eurypterida
Superfamily:
†Adelophthalmoidea
Family:
†Adelophthalmidae
Genus:
†Adelophthalmus Jordan in Jordan & von Mayer, 1854[1]
Type species
†Adelophthalmus granosus
Jordan in Jordan & von Meyer, 1854[1]
Species
33 species
†A. approximatus (Hall & Clarke, 1888)
†A. asturica (Melendez, 1971)
†A. bradorensis (Bell, 1922)
†A. cambieri (Pruvost, 1930)
†?A. carbonarius Chernyshev, 1933
†A. chinensis (Grabau, 1920)
†A. corneti (Pruvost, 1939)
†A. douvillei (de Lima, 1890)
†A. dubius Shpinev, 2012
†A. dumonti (Stainier, 1915)
†A. granosus Jordan, 1854
†A. imhofi (Reuss, 1855)
†A. irinae Shpinev, 2006
†A. khakassicus Shpinev & Filimonov, 2018
†A. kamyshtensis Shpinev, 2012
†A. kidstoni (Peach, 1888)
†?A. lohesti (Dewalque, 1889)
†A. luceroensis Kues & Kietzke, 1981
†A. mansfieldi (Hall, 1877)
†A. mazonensis (Meek & Worthen, 1868)
†A. moyseyi (Woodward, 1907)
†A. nebraskensis (Barbour, 1914)
†A. pennsylvanicus (Hall, 1877)
†?A. perornatus (Peach, 1882)
†A. piussii Lamsdell, Simonetto & Selden, 2013
†A. pruvosti (Kjellesvig-Waering, 1948)
†A. pyrrhae Lamsdell et al., 2020
†?A. raniceps (Goldenberg, 1873)
†A. sellardsi (Dunbar, 1924)
†A. sievertsi (Størmer, 1969)
†A. waterstoni (Tetlie et al., 2004)
†A. wilsoni (Woodward, 1888)
†A. zadrai Přibyl, 1952
Synonyms
Genus synonymy
Lepidoderma Reuss, 1855
Anthraconectes Meek & Worthen, 1868
Polyzosternites Goldenberg, 1873
Glyptoscorpius Peach, 1882
Synonyms of A. mansfieldi
Eurypterus stylus Hall, 1884
Synonyms of A. moyseyi
Eurypterus derbiensis Woodward, 1907
Synonyms of A. perornatus
A. caledonicus Peach, 1882
Synonyms of A. sievertsi
Eurypterus trapezoides Størmer, 1974
Synonyms of A. sellardsi
A. oklahomensis Decker, 1938
Adelophthalmus is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Adelophthalmus have been discovered in deposits ranging in age from the Early Devonian to the Early Permian, which makes it the longest lived of all known eurypterid genera, with a total temporal range of over 120 million years. Adelopththalmus was the final genus of the Eurypterina suborder of eurypterids and consisted the only known genus of swimming eurypterids from the Middle Devonian until its extinction during the Permian, after which the few surviving eurypterids were all walking forms of the suborder Stylonurina.
Fossils of Adelophthalmus have been described from four continents; North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, which indicates that Adelophthalmus might have had a nearly cosmopolitan (worldwide) distribution, one of few eurypterid genera to achieve one besides potentially Pterygotus. The territorial expansion of Adelophthalmus had begun early, with representatives found in both Siberia and Australia during the Devonian, but it first gained its almost cosmopolitan distribution following the amalgamation of the supercontinent Pangaea during the Carboniferous and Permian.
The generic name Adelophthalmus means "no obvious eye", referencing that the holotype fossil seemingly represented an eyeless eurypterid, with a carapace (head plate) completely lacking any indication of eyes. Though this has caused much subsequent confusion, including the naming of several junior synonyms, the apparent eyelessness of the type specimen is treated by modern researchers as a preservational artifact, and not a feature that any species of Adelophthalmus would have possessed in life.
Adelophthalmus was a genus of comparatively small eurypterids, with species ranging in size from 4 cm (1.6 in, A. douvillei) to 32 cm (12.6 in, A. khakassicus). As of 2020, Adelophthalmus is the most taxonomically diverse of all eurypterid genera, containing 33 species considered valid. This large amount of species, many named long ago, have prompted some researchers to designate Adelophthalmus as a "wastebasket taxon" with poorly known internal relationships and phylogeny. The genus as it is currently seen may form a monophyletic group (a group sharing a common ancestor) but might most appropriately be split into different genera along distinct clades formed within the current confines of the genus.
Adelophthalmus is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Adelophthalmus have been discovered in deposits ranging in...
only a single genus, Adelophthalmus. The hibbertopterids, mycteroptids and Adelophthalmus survived into the Permian. Adelophthalmus became the most common...
the survival, and subsequent success, of Adelophthalmus throughout the Devonian and Carboniferous. Adelophthalmus (and possibly Unionopterus) represents...
S2CID 89844986. E. S. Shpinev; A. N. Filimonov (2018). "A new record of Adelophthalmus (Eurypterida, Chelicerata) from the Devonian of the South Minusinsk...
eurypterids were also diverse, and are represented by such genera as Adelophthalmus, Megarachne (originally misinterpreted as a giant spider, hence its...
sea anemone Essexella, the malacostracan Belotelson, the eurypterid Adelophthalmus mazonensis, horseshoe crabs, the elasmobranch fish Bandringa, and the...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
other genera, present in Adelophthalmus. Because Wiedopterus also shares the centrally positioned eyes with Adelophthalmus, it is possible that it was...
sievertsi Størmer, 1969 - Germany (Devonian), reclassified as a species of Adelophthalmus. List of eurypterids Dunlop, J. A., Penney, D. & Jekel, D. 2015. A summary...
evident than in the Adelophthalmus-dominated habitats. In habitats where both Parahughmilleria and early species of Adelophthalmus are found, such as in...
species, such as G. kidstoni) had recently been referred to the genus Adelophthalmus prompted Norwegian paleontologist Leif Størmer and British paleontologist...
the linear striations present in the more derived ("advanced") genus Adelophthalmus. The morphology of the genital operculum (a plate-like segment which...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
Eurypterine genus and lineage went extinct before the Carboniferous save for Adelophthalmus which would go extinct in the Early Permian, millions of years before...
pennsylvanicus, later referred to Adelophthalmus. Hall described the species Eurypterus mansfieldi, later referred to Adelophthalmus. 1879 John William Dawson...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
with Adelophthalmus itself. Further, in 2005 the paleontologists Odd Erik Tetlie and Jason A. Dunlop suggested that the Belgian species Adelophthalmus dumonti...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
spiniferous the legs were) appears to have been similar to the related Adelophthalmus. The genital appendage (a ventral "rod" part of the reproductive system)...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
rhenaniae, found in the formation, it also preserved other eurypterids (Adelophthalmus sievertsi, Parahughmilleria hefteri, Rhenopterus diensti, Pruemopterus...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
A. glaber A scorpion. Multiple papers misspelled as Archaeoctonous. Adelophthalmus A. cf. A. mazonensis An adelophthalmid eurypterid. Amphissites Indeterminate...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...
Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America Notable genera Adelophthalmus Brachyopterus Campylocephalus Carcinosoma Drepanopterus Eurypterus Hibbertopterus...