 In 2003, "Afarchaea grimaldii" was described from Cretaceous Burmese amber aged between 88-95 million years, extending the record of this group considerably, the oldest fossil known of the group is "Patarchaea muralis" from the Middle Jurassic (Oxfordian/Callovian) of Inner Mongolia, China.The family Archaeidae was erected in 1854 by C. L. Koch and Berendt for one genus, "Archaea", initially with three extinct species, all found in amber from the Baltic Sea or Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.No living species are placed in this genus.