This volume is the first global review of the fossil and extant glypheoid lobsters (Eucrustacea,

Decapoda, Glypheoidea) included in the families Glypheidae and Litogastridae. Glypheoid lobsters

form a particularly specialised group of decapod crustaceans which are highly diversified in the fossil

record. They appeared in the Triassic, prospered in the Jurassic, and subsequently declined between the

Cretaceous and the Eocene. This group was thought to have become extinct in the Eocene until the discovery

and description of two extant species from the Pacific. Since 1822, more than 120 species of glypheoid lobsters

have been described, and numerous problems in their interprétation, and classification have accumulated in

the literature. Consequently, a thorough review with a synoptic approach is presented here. The main purpose

is to update the old literature and to revise ail the glypheoid genera and species based exclusively upon the

type specimens. All the proposed diagnoses and descriptions are presented using standard criteria and well

established descriptive terminology. Literal translations of the old diagnoses are now available in English for

the first time, which will help to demonstrate how the historical concepts of glypheoids have evolved over

time. Most of the taxa discussed are thoroughly documented and illustrated to allow comparisons between

the original figures and the updated versions. Thus about 990 specimens have been studied and are illustrated

in 583 figures. The ultimate aim of this volume is to bring together ail the data of the fossil and extant

glypheoid lobsters, and to set a new définitive framework which might become a standard method for all

decapod researchers.