Phrynidae is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

amblypygid Amblypygi is an ancient order of arachnid chelicerate arthropods also known as African cave-dwelling spiders, whip spiders and tailless whip scorpions (not to be confused with whip scorpions or vinegaroons that belong to the related order Thelypho ...

arachnida Arachnida () is a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroon ...

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s also known as whip spiders and tailless whip scorpions. Phrynidae species are found in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

regions in North and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Some species are subterranean; all are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

. At least some species of Phrynidae hold territories that they defend from other individuals.

Taxonomy

The following genera are recognised: ;Phrynidae Blanchard, 1852 *''

Acanthophrynus ''Acanthophrynus'' is a genus of tailless whipscorpions in the family Phrynidae. There is at least one described species in ''Acanthophrynus'', ''A. coronatus''. ''Acanthophrynus coronatus'' ''Acanthophrynus coronatus'' is a tailless whipsco ...

'' Kraepelin, 1899 (1 species) *†'' Britopygus'' Dunlop & Martill, 2002 (1 species; Cretaceous) *†'' Electrophrynus'' Petrunkevich, 1971 (1 species; Miocene) *''

Heterophrynus ''Heterophrynus'' is a genus of whip spiders, also known as tailless whip scorpions ( order Amblypygi), of the family Phrynidae. It is mostly distributed in South America. Species There are 16 species: *'' Heterophrynus alces'' Pocock, 1902 *'' ...

'' Pocock, 1894 (14 species) *''

Paraphrynus ''Paraphrynus'' is a genus of whip spiders, also known as tailless whip scorpions (order Amblypygi), of the family Phrynidae. It is distributed from the southwestern United States to Central America, including several Caribbean islands. Most sp ...

'' Moreno, 1940 (18 species) *''

Phrynus ''Phrynus'' is a genus of whip spiders found in tropical and subtropical regions, mostly in the new world. Appearance Like other species of the order Amblypygi, species of the genus ''Phrynus'' are dorso-ventrally flattened arachnids with elonga ...

'' Lamarck, 1801 (28 species, Oligocene - Recent)

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3381696 Arachnid orders Extant Pennsylvanian first appearances