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Some of these orders are connected by aberrant and osculant families or groups, which have by other authors been variously ranked as independent orders, but which, following Westwood substantially, I have considered, for convenience, as suborders.

These osculant or aberrant forms occur most among parasitic groups, as the Stylopid�, Hippoboscid�, Pulicid�, Mallophaga, etc.

Osculant: intermediate in character between two groups or series.

OSCULANT.—Forms or groups apparently intermediate between and connecting other groups are said to be osculant.

As some few of the old and intermediate forms having transmitted to the present day descendants but little modified, these constitute our so-called osculant or aberrant groups.