palæocarida

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. One of two main series of Crustacea (the other being Neocarida), represented by the earlier and more generalized types of crustaceans, of which the king-crabs are the only living representatives. They abounded in the paleozoic age, almost to the exclusion of other forms. Packard names Palæocarida as a subclass with two “orders,” Trilobita and Merostomata, the latter including Eurypterida. The term is synonymous with Merostomata in the widest sense, and also with Gigantostraca. See these words, Pæcilopoda, and Hæmatobranchia.