Palaeopentacheles is an extinct, monospecific genus of decapods in the monogeneric family Palaeopentachelidae that lived in what is now modern day Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg around . It is known from fossils discovered in the Nusplingen Limestone and Solnhofen Limestone formations.
The type species, P. roettenbacheri, was initially placed in the genus Eryon upon its 1839 description by Georg zu Münster. However, a 1907 study by Walther von Knebel would later move the species to its own genus, Palaeopentacheles.
In 1923, a second species, P. ovalis, was described by Victor van Straelen. However, in 1925, it was moved to its own genus, Willemoesiocaris, by the same author.
A third species from the Oligocene, P. starri, was described in 2001. Its assignment to the genus was tentative due to the poor condition its holotype was found in, and a later study revealed that the holotype was actually a moult, possibly from a nephropoid lobster.
Palaeopentacheles was previously placed in Polychelidae, but a 2009 study showed that it lay outside the Coleiidae + Polychelidae clade, so Palaeopentacheles was instead placed in the new family Palaeopentachelidae.