Samoidae

Samoidae
Temporal range: Neogene–present
Pellobunus insularis, female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Opiliones
Suborder: Laniatores
Infraorder: Grassatores
Superfamily: Samooidea
Family: Samoidae
Sørensen, 1886
Species

See text

Diversity
c. 26 genera, c. 50 species

Samoidae is a family of the harvestman infraorder Grassatores with about fifty described species.[1]

Description

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The body length of members of this family ranges from about two to almost six millimeters. They are dull light brown to yellow or green yellow with darker mottling, and sometimes dark brown.[1]

Distribution

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Samoidae from Polynesia, Melanesia, Australia, Mexico, the West Indies and Venezuela are all remarkably similar, while the species from Africa, Madagascar, Seychelles and Indonesia do at least in part not belong to this family.[1]

Relationships

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The relationship with other families in the Samooidea is not yet understood.[1]

Name

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The name of the type genus is derived from the type locality Samoa.[1]

Species

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  • Orsa V. Silhavy, 1979
  • Samoa Sørensen, in L. Koch 1886

Footnotes

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  1. ^ a b c d e Pérez Gonzales, Abel & Kury, Adriano B. (2007): Samoidae. Sørensen, 1886. In: Pinto-da-Rocha et al. 2007: 224ff

References

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  • Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog: Samoidae
  • Pinto-da-Rocha, R., Machado, G. & Giribet, G. (eds.) (2007): Harvestmen - The Biology of Opiliones. Harvard University Press ISBN 0-674-02343-9