Family:  Tridenchthoniidae
   Whereas treated here as a family in its own right - as per Chamberlin and Chamberlin (1945) - the Tridenchthoniidae are by some considered to be a subfamily of the Chthoniidae, as per Chamberlin (1929) who described them initially as  the subfamily: Dithinae within the Chthoniidae. However, it was established later that the Dithinae were the same as the Tridenchthoniidae.   So, Dithinae dissappeared and Tridenchthoniinae took its place.
​      The Tridenchthoniidae were first named by L. (Aloysius) Balzan in 1892 to place an unusual juvenile specimen of Tridenchtonius parvalus, from South America.  The name relates to the structure of the  'galea', the opening to the silk glands at the end of the 'finger' of the chelicerae. 
The family contains 2 subfamilies and five unplaced genera.  Fossils of species in this family have been found in Baltic amber  from the Paleogene and are dated at some 38 - 34 My old.   
      The Northern Rivers is most likely home to at least two species, one from each subfamily, although to date only one positive find, Anaulacodithella australica, has been recorded from our region.    The other species, Heterolophus australicus, has been recorded from the Gold Coast and is a reasonable candidate for inclusion here.  It is not impossible that other species from the family may be found locally.

Subfamily:  Tridenhthoniinae

      Heterolophus australicus     (likely occurrence)


​    
    
Subfamily:  Verucadithinae

      Anaulacodithella australica     (likely occurrence)

Taxonomy:
​​​​​
Phylum:   Arthropoda   (Arthropods)
          > Subphylum:   Chelicerata   (Chelicerates)
                    > Class:   Arachnida   (Arachnids)  
                                        > Order:   Pseudoscorpiones   (Pseudoscorpions)
                                                  > Suborder:   Epiocheirata
                                                                      > Superfamily:   Chthonioidea
                                                                                > Family:   Tridenchthoniidae
                                                                                          > Subfamily:   Tridenchthoniinae
                                                                                                              > Genus:   Heterolophus
                                                                                                                        > Species:   H. australicus  *
​
                                                                                          > Subfamily:   Verrucadithinae
                                                                                                              > Genus:   Anaulacodithella
                                                                                                                        > Species:   A. australica  *

*  =  likely
References  and  links:
​
>      Balzan, L., (1892).   'Voyage de M. E. Simon au Venezuela (Décembre 1887 - Avril 1888). Arachnides. Chernetes (Pseudoscorpiones).'   Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, Séries 1-6 60: pp 497-552: 505
>      Benavides, L.R.,  Cosgrove, J.G.,  Harvey, M.S.,  and  Giribet, G.,  (2019).   'Phylogenomic interrogation resolves the backbone of the Pseudoscorpiones Tree of Life.'    Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 139, 106509.   doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2019.05.023
>      Chamberlin, J.C.,  (1929).    'A synoptic classification of the false scorpions or chela-spinners, with a report on a cosmopolitan collection of the same.  Part I.  The Heterosphyronida (Chthoniidæ) (Archnida-Chelonethida).'     Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 4:19, 50-80,   DOI: 10.1080/00222932908673028
>      Chamberlin, J.C.  and  Chamberlin, R.V.,   (1945).    'The genera and species of the Tridenchthoniidae (Dithidae): a family of the arachnid order Chelonethida.'   Bulletin of the University of Utah. Biological Series 9: 1-67


​      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleogene​
      https://museum.wa.gov.au/catalogues-beta/pseudoscorpions/family/tridenchthoniidae
      https://www.mindat.org/taxon-3043.html

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