The Treatise of Invertebrate Paleontology are a series of chapters published since the 20th century with overviews of invertebrate fossil groups. The first Treatise on decapod crustaceans, a very diverse group including crabs, lobsters, and shrimps, was published in 1969. Since then, a tremendous amount of research has been published on fossil decapods regarding their taxonomy, diversity, paleoecology, biogeography, and phylogeny. It is fair to say it was time for an update. New and updated chapters of the Treatise on groups of Decapoda are being published since 2012.
This month, a new chapter was released about fossil Anomura, also known as false crabs. This chapter covers primarily squat lobsters, porcelain crabs, and sand crabs. It includes photos of all genera known from the fossil record, descriptions, and information about where and when in time fossils have been found. This new overview will be helpful to paleontologists and biologists and can, for example, serve as a starting point for research. UA Museums’ Curator of Paleontology Dr. Adiel Klompmaker and Research Associate of Invertebrate Paleontology Dr. Cristina Robins co-authored this chapter. Both have published on this group since 2012, including an article reporting six new squat lobster taxa published in 2022.
The new chapter is available freely online.
Reference:
Schweitzer, C.E., R.M. Feldmann, H. Karasawa, A.A. Klompmaker, and C.M. Robins. 2023. Part R, Revised, Volume 1, Chapter 8T22: Systematic descriptions: Infraorder Anomura (exclusive of Lithodoidea, Lomisoidea, and Paguroidea). Treatise Online 168: 1–31, 13 fig.