Pseudoscorpion groups with bipolar distributions: A new genus from Tasmania related to the Holarctic Syarinus (Arachnida, Pseudoscorpiones , Syarinidae)

A new genus Anysrius is proposed for two new species from Tasmania, Australia: A. chamberlini (type species) and A. brochus. Anysrius represents the sister-genus to the northern hemisphere genus Syarinus Chamberlin, but males differ in differences in the morphology of sternite II and IV. The biogeographic aspects of the new discovery are examined, and the Syarinus-Anysrius clade is considered to represent an ancient relict which evolved prior to the breakup of Pangea during the Mesozoic. This distribution pattern is considered to be 'bipolar' and is compared with that of the pseudoscorpion family Pseudogarypidae, which is also known from Tasmania and the Holarctic.