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 genusSyarinus 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 bebipolar' and is compared with that of the pseudoscorpion family Pseudogarypidae, which is also known from Tasmania and the Holarctic . Recognizable bipolar or amphi-arctic distri- butions(i.e.,where extant taxa occur in north- ern and southern latitudes but are absent from tropical zones) seem to be uncommon amongst arachnids, with probably one of the most clear-cut examples being the pseudo- scorpion family Pseudogarypidae . This family is represented by a sole Tasmanian genus and species, Neopseudogarypus scutellatus Morris 1948, six North American species of Pseu- dogarypusEllingsen 1909, and three Tertiary