Anomura

Anomura
Temporal range: Late Triassic: Norian - Recent,
The hermit crab Dardanus megistos
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Clade: Reptantia
Infraorder: Anomura
Macleay, 1838
Superfamilies

Anomura (sometimes Anomala) is a group of decapod crustaceans, including hermit crabs and others. Several groups such as the king crabs and porcelain crabs within the Anomura have independently undergone carcinisation, acquiring the armoured crab body plan with a concealed tail. It is the sister group to the "true crabs" or Brachyura.