belisama'', 18 mm, Kohlenkalk Belgium Opinions about the composition of and the affinities within the proetids, and to other trilobites, have been very divergent over time. In 2011 it was suggested to retain in Proetida only the families
Proetidae and
Tropidocoryphidae. The remainder of the families should be combined in a new proposed order, Aulacopleurida (Adrian, 2011), that would consist of the families
Aulacopleuridae,
Brachymetopidae,
Dimeropygidae,
Rorringtoniidae,
Scharyiidae,
Bathyuridae,
Telephinidae,
Holotrachelidae and
Hystricuridae (considered Proetida before), combined with the Ptychopariid families
Alokistocaridae,
Crepicephalidae,
Ehmaniellidae,
Marjumiidae,
Solenopleuridae and
Tricrepicephalidae. The reasoning for this proposed split is based on differences in early larval stages. While the remaining Proetida taxa have globular larvae very unlike the adult form, the Aulacopleurids have adultlike larvae with paired spines. Others observe that globular non-adult larvae also occur in some taxa within the proposed order Aulacopleurida. More recently
phylogenetic analysis of both larval and adult characters suggests the proetids as earlier understood probably are
monophyletic. Two larval characters are unique to all Proetida; the first is that the eye develops on the side of the headshield, not at the front, and the second is a forwardly tapering
glabella that is distanced from the rim of the headshield. The analysis identifies the taxa
Asaphida,
Olenina and
Phacopida (including the Holotrachelidae) as
sister groups. The earliest branch in Proetida is the family Hystricuridae. This is followed by a branch that consists of the families Dimeropygidae and Toernquistiidae. At the third node, the superfamily Aulacopleuroidea (consisting of Aulacopleuridae and Brachymetopidae) split off. The fourth branch is the family Scharyiidae. The fifth branch consists of the families Roringtoniidae and Tropidocoryphidae. The sixth node combines a restricted Bathyuridae split off from
Bathyurella with the family Proetidae (including Phillipsiidae, which, according to Lamsdell, has been demoted to the subfamily Phillipsiinae). ==Taxonomy==