Palaeopagurus

Palaeopagurus; Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Life restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Crustacea
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Superfamily:	Paguroidea
Family:	Paguridae
Genus:	Palaeopagurus; Van Straelen, 1925
species
	Palaeopagurus acutus Crônier & Courville, 2004; Palaeopagurus cretaceous Mertin, 1941; Palaeopagurus deslongchampsi Van Straelen, 1924 (type species); Palaeopagurus guilleaumei Van Straelen, 1924; Palaeopagurus jurensis (Étallon, 1861); Palaeopagurus kellowiensis (Étallon, 1861); Palaeopagurus laevis Van Straelen, 1924; Palaeopagurus morinicus (Sauvage, 1891); Palaeopagurus neraudeaui Crônier & Courville, 2004; Palaeopagurus pilsbryi Roberts, 1962; Palaeopagurus quadratus Van Straelen, 1924; Palaeopagurus rumignyensis Fischer, 1969; Palaeopagurus serialis (Carter, 1886); Palaeopagurus spinosus Van Straelen, 1924; Palaeopagurus tuberculatus Van Straelen, 1924; Palaeopagurus vandenengeli Fraaije, 2003;

Palaeopagurus is an extinct genus of hermit crab from the Lower Cretaceous.

A fossil of the species P. vandenengeli is notable for having been preserved in situ in the shell of an ammonite. Along with a lack of fossils of hermit crabs in gastropod shells from before the Late Cretaceous, this suggests that ammonite shells may have played a more important role in the early evolution of hermit crabs' characteristic shell-dwelling habits.^[1]