PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Pterygotus

Eurypterida - Pterygotidae

Taxonomy

Pterygotus was named by Agassiz (1844) [Sepkoski's age data: S Ludl D Fame-m Sepkoski's reference number: 360,1066]. It is not extant. Its type is Pterygotus anglicus.

It was assigned to Poecilopoda by M'Coy (1849); to Eurypterida by Sepkoski (2002); and to Pterygotidae by Kjellesvig-Waering and Caster (1955), Størmer (1955), Dunlop et al. (2013), Dunlop et al. (2020), Lamsdell (2025).

Species

P. (Pterygotus), P. anglicus (syn. P. atlanticus, P. minor) (type species), P. barrandei (syn. P. beraunensis), P. carmani, P. fissus, P. floridanus, P. gaspesiensis, P. holmi, P. leptodactylus, P. siemiradzkii, P. ventricosus, P. vogti, P. wanggaii

Synonyms

Pterygotus (Pterygotus) was named by Agassiz (1845).

It was considered an invalid subgroup of Pterygotus by Dunlop et al. (2013).

It was assigned to Pterygotus by Kjellesvig-Waering and Caster (1955), Størmer (1955).
Curviramus was named by Ruedemann (1935). It is not extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Pterygotus (Pterygotus) by Størmer (1955); it was synonymized subjectively with Pterygotus by Dunlop et al. (2020).
Pterygotus siemiradzkii was named by Strand (1926). It is not extant.

It was considered a nomen dubium by Dunlop and Tetlie (2006), Dunlop et al. (2013).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1844	Pterygotus Agassiz
1845	Pterygotus (Pterygotus) Agassiz
1849	Pterygotus M'Coy p. 394
1926	Pterygotus siemiradzkii Strand
1935	Curviramus Ruedemann
1955	Pterygotus Kjellesvig-Waering and Caster p. 1044
1955	Pterygotus (Pterygotus) Kjellesvig-Waering and Caster p. 1044
1955	Pterygotus Størmer p. 30
1955	Pterygotus (Pterygotus) Størmer p. 30
2002	Pterygotus Sepkoski
2013	Pterygotus Dunlop et al.
2020	Pterygotus Dunlop et al. p. 27
2025	Pterygotus Lamsdell

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Protostomia
—	Ecdysozoa	Aguinaldo et al. 1997
—	Panarthropoda
phylum	Arthropoda	Gravenhorst 1843
—	Deuteropoda

Rank	Name	Author
subphylum	Chelicerata	Heymons 1901
order	Eurypterida	Huxley 1857
suborder	Eurypterina	Novojilov 1962
infraorder	Diploperculata
superfamily	Pterygotoidea	Clarke and Ruedemann 1912
family	Pterygotidae	Clarke and Ruedemann 1912
genus	Pterygotus	Agassiz 1844

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Pterygotus Agassiz 1844

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†Pterygotus anglicus Agassiz 1844

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Invalid names: Pterygotus atlanticus Clarke and Ruedemann 1912 [synonym], Pterygotus minor Woodward 1864 [synonym]

†Pterygotus barrandei Semper 1898

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Invalid names: Pterygotus beraunensis Semper 1898 [synonym]

†Pterygotus carmani Kjellesvig-Waering 1961

†Pterygotus fissus Seemann 1906

†Pterygotus floridanus Kjellesvig-Waering 1950

†Pterygotus gaspesiensis Kindle 1954

†Pterygotus holmi Størmer 1934

†Pterygotus leptodactylus M'Coy 1849

†Pterygotus ventricosus Kjellesvig-Waering 1948

†Pterygotus vogti Størmer 1934

†Pterygotus wanggaii Ma et al. 2023

Invalid names: Curviramus Ruedemann 1935 [synonym], Pterygotus (Pterygotus) Agassiz 1845 [invalid subgroup], Pterygotus siemiradzkii Strand 1926 [nomen dubium]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

nektobenthico

Diet:

carnivoreo

Vision:

well-developedo

Created:

2004-09-24 08:12:58

Modified:

2010-02-05 01:21:51

Source: o = order

Reference: Aberhan et al. 2004

Age range: base of the Aeronian to the top of the Early/Lower Famennian or 440.50000 to 368.50000 Ma

Collections (61 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Llandovery - Wenlock	443.1 - 426.7	Libya	P. sp. (26987)
Llandovery - Wenlock	443.1 - 426.7	United Kingdom (Scotland)	P. lanarkensis (26889)
Silurian	443.1 - 419.62	USA (New York)	P. sp. (10456)
Aeronian	440.5 - 438.6	Morocco	P. sp. (26985)
Sheinwoodian	432.9 - 430.6	Norway	P. sp. (14266 184697)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	United Kingdom (England)	P. grandidentatus (26909)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	USA (Maryland)	P. marylandicus (14193)
Rootsikula	428.6 - 426.7	Estonia	P. impactus (26922)
Rootsikula	428.6 - 426.7	Norway	Erettopterus holmi (26928) P. holmi (14308) P. sp. (26927)
Paadla	426.7 - 423.0	Estonia	P. sp. (26925)
Ludlow	426.7 - 422.7	Libya	P. sp. (26986)
Ludlow	426.7 - 422.7	Ukraine	P. sp. (23373)
Ludlow	426.7 - 422.7	Ukraine (Khmelnitsky)	P. sp. (225270)
Ludfordian	425.0 - 422.7	United Kingdom (England)	P. arcuatus (26910) P. denticulatus, P. lightbodyi (26911) P. sp. (8307)
Ludfordian	425.0 - 422.7	USA (Indiana)	P. ventricosus (14207)
Pridoli	422.7 - 419.62	Czechia	P. barrandei (13894 14080 232620) P. barrandei, P. fissus (14131)
Pridoli	422.7 - 419.62	USA (New York)	P. cobbi (26089) P. grandis, P. juvenis (491) P. juvensis (26087) P. sp. (493 517 542 26869)
Pridoli	422.7 - 419.62	Australia (New South Wales)	P. sp. (235895)
Pridoli	422.7 - 419.62	Poland	P. sp. (13883 23021 23029)
Pridoli	422.7 - 419.62	United Kingdom (England)	P. ludensis (26914) P. taurinus (26917)
Pridoli - Lochkovian	422.7 - 413.02	Poland	P. sp. (13889)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	Ukraine	P. siemiradskii (26978)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	Russian Federation (Krasnoyarsk Krai)	P. sp. (231624)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	United Kingdom (Herefordshire)	P. anglicus (201736)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	Poland	P. sp. (13881 13886 13887 13891)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	Canada (New Brunswick)	P. atlanticus (593)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	Norway	P. sp., P. vogti (26929)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	China (Yunnan)	P. wanggaii (216598)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	Russian Federation (Siberia)	P. sp. (60391)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	Spain (Barcelona)	P. barrandei (231817)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	United Kingdom (Scotland)	P. minor, P. anglicus (26908) P. sp. (155918)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	USA (Florida)	P. floridanus (75630)
Helderbergian - Pragian	419.62 - 410.62	Canada (New Brunswick)	P. atlanticus (14199)
Lochkovian - Pragian	419.62 - 410.62	USA (Ohio)	P. carmani (26874)
Lochkovian - Pragian	419.62 - 410.62	China (Yunnan)	P. wanggaii (237238)
Early/Lower Emsian	410.62 - 399.5	Canada (New Brunswick)	P. anglicus (232474)
Emsian	410.62 - 393.47	Canada (Quebec)	P. gaspesiensis (232264) P. sp. (608)
Middle Devonian	393.47 - 382.31	USA (Indiana)	P. sp. (225038)
Early/Lower Famennian	372.15 - 368.5	Germany (Rhenish Massif)	P. sp. (5960)