Escadabiidae is a small neotropical family of the harvestman infraorder Grassatores

Grassatores

Grassatores is the most diverse infraorder of the Laniatores. It includes over 3,500 species distributed mainly in the World Tropics...

 with six described species.

Distribution

All known members of this group are endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. The as yet undescribed species in this family expand the range to the coast of Ceará

Ceará

Ceará is one of the 27 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is currently the 8th largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the main touristic destinations in Brazil. The state capital is the city of...

 State and caves in the dry central part of Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

, where the cave-dwelling

Speleology

Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form and change over time...

 species could represent an example of relictual distribution.

Name

The name of the type genus Escadabius is combined from the type locality Escada

Escada

Escada is an international luxury fashion group in women's designer clothing. The company has a presence in about 60 different countries. Its main sales markets are North America, western and eastern Europe and Asia. It filed bankruptcy in August 2009, and was acquired by Megha Mittal, in November...

 (Pernambuco

Pernambuco

Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the...

, Brazil, and Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 bios "living".

Species

• Baculigerus H. E. M. Soares, 1979
• Baculigerus litoris H. E. M. Soares, 1979

• Escadabius Roewer, 1949
• Escadabius schubarti Roewer, 1949
• Escadabius spinicoxa Roewer, 1949
• Escadabius ventricalcaratus Roewer, 1949

• Jim H. E. M. Soares, 1979
• Jim benignus H. E. M. Soares, 1979

• Recifesius H. E. M. Soares, 1978
• Recifesius pernambucanus H. E. M. Soares, 1978