| Paropsonema Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Stem group: | Ambulacraria |
| Clade: | †Cambroernida |
| Class: | †Eldonioidea |
| Clade: | †Paropsonemida |
| Genus: | †Paropsonema Clarke 1900 |
| Type species | |
| †P. cryptophya Clarke 1900 | |
| Species | |
| |
Paropsonema is an eldonioid known from the Devonian of upstate New York and (if P. mirabile is a species of Paropsonema rather than Discophyllum) the Silurian of southern Australia. It is the latest-surviving known member of the Eldonioidea and Cambroernida.
A specimen described in 2018 may represent an additional species, but has been tentatively assigned to P. cryptohya; it represents the youngest described paropsonemid.
The species Discophyllum mirabile has been thought to be closer to Paropsonema than to the sole previously-described species of Discophyllum, D. peltata. As a result, sources treat it as Paropsonema mirabile. Conversely, at least one worker has treated P. cryptophya as a member of Discophyllum, D. cryptophya, although this has not been followed by later authors. Regardless, Paropsonema and Discophyllum are grouped together informally as "paropsonemids."
