Terrestrial crab

"Land crab" redirects here. For the car known as the "landcrab", see BMC ADO17.

Terrestrial crab
Temporal range: Cretaceous–present
Purple land crab (Gecarcinus ruricola)
Purple land crab (Gecarcinus ruricola)
Purple marsh crab (Sesarma reticulatum)
Purple marsh crab (Sesarma reticulatum)
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Brachyura
Section: Eubrachyura
Groups included
Johngarthia lagostoma (Gecarcinidae), a terrestrial crab found on Ascension Island, where it is the largest native land animal

A number of lineages of crabs have evolved to live predominantly on land. Examples of terrestrial crabs are found in the families Gecarcinidae and Gecarcinucidae, as well as in selected genera from other families, such as Sesarma,[1] although the term "land crab" is often used to mean solely the family Gecarcinidae.[2]

  1. ^ Richard G. Hartnoll (1988). "Biology of the land crabs: an introduction". In Warren W. Burggren & Brian Robert McMahon (ed.). Evolution, systematics, and geographical distribution. Cambridge University Press. pp. 6–54. ISBN 978-0-521-30690-4.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Burggren was invoked but never defined (see the help page).