The
Glypheoidea (containing the
glypheoid lobsters), is a group of
lobster-like
decapod crustaceans which forms an important part of fossil faunas, such as the
Solnhofen limestone. These fossils included taxa such as
Glyphea (from which the group takes its name), and
Mecochirus, mostly with elongated (often semichelate)
chelipeds. This group of decapods is a good example of a
living fossil, or a
lazarus taxon, since until their discovery in the 1970s, the group was considered to have become
extinct in the
Eocene. The
superfamily Glypheoidea comprises five families. The two extant species,
Neoglyphea inopinata and
Laurentaeglyphea neocaledonica, are both in the Glypheidae.