Cheliceromorpha

Cheliceromorpha; Temporal range: Cambrian stage 3–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Fossil of Leanchoilia superlata, a megacheiran
	Limulus polyphemus, a xiphosurid chelicerate
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Clade:	Deuteropoda
(unranked):	Cheliceromorpha
Subgroups
	†Megacheira; †Urokodia; Mollisoniida; Habeliida; †Megachelicerax; Offacolidae; Prosomapoda;

Cheliceromorpha is a proposed clade of arthropods comprising Megacheira and Chelicerata. It is equivalent to total-group Chelicerata with the exclusion of Artiopoda (trilobite and relatives). Defining traits of Cheliceromorpha including a deutocerebral (align to the second brain segment) pair of raptorial appendages with 6 or less segments (e.g. great appendages, chelicerae), and exites of trunk appendages with overlapping lamellae which evolved into book gills in crown-group chelicerates.^[1]

References

↑ Liu, Yu; Lustri, Lorenzo; Mai, Huijuan; Williams, Mark; Liu, Liming; Tang, Yani; Harvey, Thomas H. P.; Hou, Xianguang (2026-07-01). "Urokodia sheds light on the origin of chelicerae and book gills of Chelicerata". Nature: 1–6. doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10713-2. ISSN 1476-4687.

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