Palpimanoidea

"Assassin spider" redirects here. The English name is particularly used for the Archaeidae.

Palpimanoids
Temporal range: Jurassic–present
Male Sarascelis chaperi (Palpimanidae)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Superfamily: Palpimanoidea
Families

The Palpimanoidea or palpimanoids, also known as assassin spiders,[1] are a group of araneomorph spiders, originally treated as a superfamily. As with many such groups, its circumscription has varied. As of September 2018, the following five families were included:[2][3]

Many palpimanoids specialize in preying on other spiders, hence the name "assassin spiders". They have various adaptations for catching prey, including enlarged spade-like front legs, and heads raised up on a "neck" with long chelicerae ("jaws"). Fossils suggest that the group was once widespread, but most species are now found in the Southern Hemisphere. Morphological studies support the monophyly of the group, although molecular studies have produced different results.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference WheeCoddCrowDimi17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference WoodGrisGill12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference HormGris14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).