Parent taxon: Acanthodii according to R. van der Laan 2019
See also Dineley and Metcalf 1999, Hairapetian et al. 2006, Long 2011, Nelson et al. 2016 and Sepkoski 2002
Sister taxa: Acanthodi, Acanthodida, Acanthodiformes, Antarctonchus, Archaeacanthus, Byssacanthoides, Campylodus, Climatiida, Diplacanthi, Diplacanthiformes, Eupleurogmus, Gemuendolepis, Haplacanthus, Homacanthus, Ischnacanthida, Ischnacanthiformes, Latviacanthus, Lupopsyroides, Lupopsyrus, Machaeracanthidae, Monopleurodus, Neoasiacanthus, Nodacosta, Nodonchus, Onchidae, Paucicanthus, Pinnacanthus, Promesacanthus, Ptychodictyon, Seretolepis, Striacanthus, Tchunacanthidae, Yealepis
Subtaxa: Brochoadmonidae Cassidiceps Climatiidae Euthacanthidae Gyracanthidae Hanilepis Pruemolepis Vesperaliidae
Ecology: nektonic carnivore
Distribution:
• Carboniferous of Australia (2 collections), Belgium (1), Canada (1: Nova Scotia), the United Kingdom (5), United States (1: West Virginia)
• Devonian of Antarctica (2), Australia (1), Belarus (1), Bolivia (1), Canada (4: New Brunswick, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia), China (1), Colombia (1), Estonia (3), France (1), Germany (1), Iran (4), Latvia (2), New Zealand (1), Norway (3), the Russian Federation (11), South Africa (2), Ukraine (2), the United Kingdom (12), United States (11: Michigan, Nevada, Utah)
• Silurian of Canada (1: Northwest Territories), China (4), Estonia (12), Greenland (1), Lithuania (9), Sweden (1), the United Kingdom (3)
Total: 105 collections including 154 occurrences