Phalangiotarbida is an extinct arachnid order first recorded from the Early Devonian of Germany and most widespread in the Upper Carboniferous coal measures of Europe and North America. The last species are known from the early Permian Rotliegend of Germany.
The affinities of phalangiotarbids are obscure, with most authors favouring affinities with Opiliones (harvestmen) and/or Acari (mites and ticks). Phalangiotarbida has been recently (2004) proposed to be sister group to (Palpigradi+Tetrapulmonata): the taxon Megoperculata sensu Shultz (1990).Pollitt et al. 2004
Nemastomoides depressus, described as a harvestman in the family Nemastomoididae, is actually a poorly preserved phalangiotarbid.Dunlop in Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 255
Taxa included Family Anthracotarbidae Kjellesvig-Waering, 1969 Genus Anthracotarbus Kjellesvig-Waering, 1969 Species Anthracotarbus hintoni Kjellesvig-Waering, 1969 Family Architarbidae Karsch, 1882 Genus Architarbus Scudder, 1868 Species Architarbus hoffmanni Guthörl, 1934 (Jr synonyms Opiliotarbus kliveri Waterlot, 1934; Goniotarbus sarana Guthörl, 1965) Species Architarbus minor Petrunkevitch, 1913 Species Architarbus rotundatus Scudder, 1868 Genus Bornatarbus Rößler & Schneider, 1997 Species Bornatarbus mayasii Haupt in Nindel, 1955 Genus Devonotarbus Poschmann, Anderson & Dunlop, 2005 Species Devonotarbus hombachensis Poschmann, Anderson & Dunlop, 2005 Genus Discotarbus Petrunkevitch, 1913 Species Discotarbus deplanatus Petrunkevitch, 1913 Genus Geratarbus Scudder, 1890 Species Geratarbus lacoei Scudder, 1890 Species Geratarbus bohemicus Petrunkevitch, 1953 Genus Goniotarbus Petrunkevitch, 1953 Species Goniotarbus angulatus Pocock, 1911 Species Goniotarbus tuberculatus Pocock, 1911 Genus Hadrachne Melander, 1903 Species Hadrachne horribilis Melander, 1903 Genus Leptotarbus Petrunkevitch, 1945 Species Leptotarbus torpedo Pocock, 1911 Genus Mesotarbus Petrunkevitch, 1949 Species Mesotarbus angustus Pocock, 1911 Species Mesotarbus eggintoni Pocock, 1911 Species Mesotarbus hindi Pocock, 1911 Species Mesotarbus intermedius Petrunkevitch, 1949 Species Mesotarbus peteri Dunlop & Horrocks, 1997 Genus Metatarbus Petrunkevitch, 1913 Species Metatarbus triangularus Petrunkevitch, 1913 Genus Ootarbus Petrunkevitch, 1945 Species Ootarbus pulcher Petrunkevitch, 1945 Species Ootarbus ovatus Petrunkevitch, 1945 Genus OrthotarbusPetrunkevitch, 1945 Species Orthotarbus minutus Petrunkevitch, 1913 Species Orthotarbus robustus Petrunkevitch, 1945 Species Orthotarbus nyranensis Petrunkevitch, 1953 Genus Paratarbus Petrunkevitch, 1945 Species Paratarbus carbonarius Petrunkevitch, 1945 Genus Phalangiotarbus Haase, 1890 Species Phalangiotarbus subovalis Woodward, 1872 Genus Pycnotarbus Darber, 1990 Species Pycnotarbus verrucosus Darber, 1990 Genus Triangulotarbus Patrick, 1989 Species Triangulotarbus terrehautensis Patrick, 1989 Family Heterotarbidae Petrunkevitch, 1913 Genus Heterotarbus Petrunkevitch, 1913 Species Heterotarbus ovatus Petrunkevitch, 1913 Family Opiliotarbidae Petrunkevitch, 1949 Genus Opiliotarbus Pocock, 1910 Species Opiliotarbus elongatus Scudder, 1890 nomina dubia Eotarbus litoralis Kušta, 1888 Nemastomoides depressus Petrunkevitch, 1913
References
Bibliography Petrunkevitch, Alexander I. (1955): Arachnida. pp. 42–162 in Treatise on Invertebrate Palaeontology, part P. Arthropoda 2 (R.C. Moore, ed.). Geological Society of America & University of Kansas Press, Lawrence. Shultz, Jeffrey W.(1990): Evolutionary morphology and phylogeny of Arachnida. Cladistics 6: 1-38. Dunlop, Jason A. (1997): Palaeozoic arachnids and their significance for arachnid phylogeny. Proceedings of the 16th European Colloquium of Arachnology 65–82. - Abstract Pollitt, Jessica R.; Braddy, Simon J. & Dunlop, Jason A. (2004): The phylogenetic position of the extinct arachnid order Phalangiotarbida Haase, 1890, with reference to the fauna from the Writhlington Geological Nature Reserve (Somerset, UK). Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Earth Sciences, 94(3): 243–259. - PDF available on request Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press
Further reading (1997): Phalangiotarbid arachnids from the Coal Measures of Lancashire, UK. Geological Magazine 134: 369–381.