"The subphylum Chelicerata (New Latin, from French chélicère, from Greek χηλή, khēlē "claw, chela" and κέρας, kéras "horn") constitutes one of the major subdivisions of the ...
[Read more]
phylum Arthropoda. It contains the sea spiders, arachnids (including scorpions, spiders, and potentially horseshoe crabs), and several extinct lineages, such as the eurypterids.
The Chelicerata originated as marine animals in the Middle Cambrian period; the first confirmed chelicerate fossils, belonging to Sanctacaris, date from 508 million years ago. The surviving marine species include the four species of xiphosurans (horseshoe crabs), and possibly the 1,300 species of pycnogonids (sea spiders), if the latter are indeed chelicerates. On the other hand, there are over 77,000 well-identified species of air-breathing chelicerates, and there may be about 500,000 unidentified species." - (en.wikipedia.org 09.03.2020)
