Cyphophthalmi

Cyphophthalmi are smaller than the more familiar "daddy long-legs" harvestmen, with adults ranging from 1 to 7 mm in length. Moreover, their legs are relatively short compared to most other harvestmen, typically shorter than the body. Some superficially resemble mites, which is where they get their common name. Their coloration is almost always some shade of brown, with a heavily sclerotized body, and they are quite inconspicuous, residing in leaf litter or in caves. Diagnostic features Cyphophthalmi differ from other harvestmen in a number of key ways. Like all harvestmen, they have a pair of ozopores located on the sides of the prosoma. Unlike other harvestmen, however, the ozopores in Cyphophthalmi are located on elevated cone-shaped structures known as ozophores. Although members of most families are eyeless, most members of the families Pettalidae and Stylocellidae do have eyes located on or near the ozophores. These eyes, however, are not homologous to the eyes of other harvestmen, and are instead derived from ancestral lateral eyes, instead of ancestral median eyes, as is the case for other harvestmen. The male genitalia of Cyphophthalmi is unique among harvestmen, as males lack a true penis, and instead have a short spermatopositor, a structure which is not inserted inside the female, but used to deposit a spermatophore. In addition, they are the only harvestmen to lack a genital operculum, and instead exhibit a completely open gonopore. Mating in Cyphophthalmi is not well studied, but in some species at least, males and females do engage in direct contact. They further differ from most harvestmen in that the first 8 opisthosomal tergites and the prosomal carapace are fused together in what is known as a scutum completum, although this feature is also known from the unrelated family Sandokanidae. ==Distribution==

Cyphophthalmids are found on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica, where they probably also once lived. As they did not disperse onto any oceanic islands, and it is believed that they did not travel between separate landmasses, they make an interesting subject for biogeography. Each of the six currently recognized families has a distinct distribution: ==Fossil record==

A fossil cyphophthalmid assigned to a modern genus, Siro platypedibus Dunlop & Giribet, 2003 (Sironidae), was described from Paleogene aged Bitterfeld amber of eastern Germany. Another of this genus was described from Eocene Baltic amber as Siro balticus Dunlop & Mitov, 2011. A third fossil, Palaeosiro burmanicum Poinar, 2008, has been described from the Cretaceous (Cenomanian) aged Burmese amber. It was also assigned to Sironidae but is now thought to belong to Stylocellidae (a more typical Asian family). As the fossil record for Cyphophthalmi is so sparse, recent studies have attempted to predict the diversification time of the suborder by using molecular clocks and comparing gene sequences among living taxa. One 2012 study estimated the earliest diversification of the suborder at approximately 332 MYA, in the Carboniferous. A more recent study in 2017, however, recovered the diversification of the modern Cyphophthalmi lineages to have occurred more recently, during the Jurassic, with the emergence of the suborder as a whole at less than 300 MYA. ==Relationships==

Cyphophthalmi is one of the two major lineages of harvestmen; the other, containing the Laniatores, Dyspnoi and Eupnoi, is known as Phalangida. The extinct suborder, Tetrophthalmi, shares several features in common with Cyphophthalmi, and these two suborders may represent sister taxa. }} }} ==Taxonomy==

History of taxonomy Originally, Cyphophthalmi was recognized as a single family consisting of two subfamilies, Sironini and Stylocellini. This classification scheme existed until 1980, when a new taxonomy was proposed, separating 5 families into the now-defunct infraorders Temperophthalmi (consisting of Petallidae, Sironidae and, later, Troglosironidae) and Tropicophthalmi (consisting of Stylocellidae, Ogoveidae and Neogoveidae). The monophyly of most subgroups of Cyphophthalmi is well supported, although both Boreophthalmi and Sironidae have been recovered as paraphyletic in recent analyses. • Boreophthalmi Giribet, Sharma, Boyer, Clouse, de Bivort, Dimitrov, Kawauchi, Murienne & Schwendinger, 2012 – 110 species, 23 genera • Parasironidae Karaman, Mitov & Snegovaya, 2024 – 7 species, 4 genera • Sironidae Leach, 1816 – 60 species, 9 genera • Stylocellidae Hansen & Sørensen, 1904 – 43 species, 10 genera • Scopulophthalmi Giribet, Sharma, Boyer, Clouse, de Bivort, Dimitrov, Kawauchi, Murienne & Schwendinger, 2012 – 84 species, 11 genera • Pettalidae Shear, 1980 – 84 species, 11 genera • Sternophthalmi Giribet, Sharma, Boyer, Clouse, de Bivort, Dimitrov, Kawauchi, Murienne & Schwendinger, 2012 – 60 species, 14 genera • Neogoveidae Shear, 1980 – 40 species, 11 genera • Ogoveidae Shear, 1980 – 3 species, 1 genus • Troglosironidae Shear, 1993 – 17 species, 1 genus • Incertae sedis • Ankaratra Shear & Gruber, 1996 – 1 species • Marwe Shear, 1985 – 1 species • Shearogovea Giribet, 2011 – 1 species ==See also==