Ochodaeidae [SEP] parent taxon
Ochodaeidae beetles belong to the infraorder Scarabaeiformia, which contains only one superfamily, the Scarabaeoidea. The most striking feature of the Scarabaeoidea are the ends of their antennae, that are divided into several lamellae, thus resembling a fan. Another distinguishing feature are their legs, that possess teeth and are adapted for digging.
Ochodaeidae is divided into two subfamilies containing five tribes and 15 genera:
- Subfamily Ochodaeinae
- Subfamily Chaetocanthinae
Literature about Ochodaeidae.
- 2006: A review of the family-group names for
Taxon in disguise
In bacteriology, a taxon in disguise is a species, genus or higher unit of biological classification whose evolutionary history reveals has evolved from another unit of similar or lower rank, making the parent unit paraphyletic. This happens when rapid evolution makes a new species appear radically different from the ancestral group, so that it is not (initially) recognised as belonging to the parent phylogenetic group, leaving the latter an evolutionary grade.
While the term is from bacteriology, parallel examples are found throughout the tree of