| Rhenopteridae Temporal range: Middle Ordovician - Early Devonian,
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|---|---|
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| Kiaeropterus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Order: | †Eurypterida |
| Suborder: | †Stylonurina |
| Superfamily: | †Rhenopteroidea Størmer, 1951 |
| Family: | †Rhenopteridae Størmer, 1951 |
| Type genus | |
| Rhenopterus Størmer, 1936
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| Genera | |
| Synonyms | |
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The Rhenopteridae are a family of eurypterids, an extinct group of chelicerate arthropods commonly known as "sea scorpions". The family is the only family currently contained in the superfamily Rhenopteroidea, one of four superfamilies classified as part of the suborder Stylonurina.
The family contains one of the earliest known eurypterids, Brachyopterus, known from the Middle Ordovician (also the sister taxon to all other rhenopterids), and is the most primitive clade of stylonurine eurypterids. The last known members of the family went extinct during the Early Devonian.[1]
- ^ James C. Lamsdell, Simon J. Braddy & O. Erik Tetlie (2010). "The systematics and phylogeny of the Stylonurina (Arthropoda: Chelicerata: Eurypterida)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 8 (1): 49–61. doi:10.1080/14772011003603564. S2CID 85398946.