Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always ending with a stinger. The evolutionary history of scorpions goes back 435 million years. They mainly live in deserts but have adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, and can be found on all continents except Antarctica. There are over 2,500 described species, with 22 extant (living) families recognized to date. Their taxonomy is being revised to account for 21st-century genomic studies.
Hadrurus spadix is a large scorpion native to the southern deserts of North America. It is a burrowing scorpion which spends a lot of time digging in the sand and enlarging its burrow. A similar species is the giant desert hairy scorpion.
Hadrurus arizonensis, the giant desert hairy scorpion, giant hairy scorpion, or Arizona Desert hairy scorpion is a large scorpion found in North America.
Euscorpius is a genus of scorpions, commonly called small wood-scorpions. It presently contains 65 species and is the type genus of the family Euscorpiidae – long included in the Chactidae – and the subfamily Euscorpiinae.
Hadogenes troglodytes is a species of scorpion from southern Africa. It is commonly known as the flat rock scorpion and commonly sold on the exotic pet market. It was once regarded as having the longest recorded body length of any scorpion, reaching up to 20 cm; however Heterometrus swammerdami currently holds the record for being the world's largest scorpion at 9 inches (23 cm) in length. May be confused with Hadogenes bicolor.
The taxonomy of scorpions deals with the classification of this predatory arthropod into 13 extant families and about 1,400 described species and subspecies. In addition, 111 described taxa of extinct scorpions are known.
Hottentotta is a genus of scorpions of the family Buthidae. It is distributed widely across Africa, except for most of the Sahara desert. Species in the genus also occur in the Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, southeastern Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Cape Verde Islands, and Sri Lanka (introduced).
Heterometrus, whose members are also known by the collective vernacular name giant forest scorpions, is a genus of scorpions belonging to the family Scorpionidae. It is distributed widely across tropical and subtropical southeastern Asia, including Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, India, and China (Hainan). It is notable for containing some of the largest living species of scorpions.
Leiurus is a genus of scorpion of the family Buthidae. The most common species, L. quinquestriatus, is also known under the common name Deathstalker. It is distributed widely across North Africa and the Middle East, including the western and southern Arabian Peninsula and southeastern Turkey. At least one species occurs in West Africa.
Pandinus is a genus of large scorpions belonging to the family Scorpionidae. It contains one of the most popular pet scorpions, the emperor scorpion . The genus is distributed across tropical Africa.
Vaejovidae is a family of scorpions, comprising 25 genera and 227 species, found in North America. The species of the genus are found in Mexico and the southern United States, and Paruroctonus boreus is found in Canada and is the northernmost species of scorpion in the world.
Uintascorpio is an extinct genus of scorpion in the family Buthidae and containing the single species Uintascorpio halandrasorum. The species is known only from the Middle Eocene Parachute Member, part of the Green River Formation, in the Piceance Creek Basin, Garfield County, northwestern Colorado, USA.
Buthus is a genus of scorpion belonging and being eponymous to the family Buthidae. It is distributed widely across northern Africa, including Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, as well as the Middle East, including Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and possibly Saudi Arabia and southern Turkey. Its European range includes the Iberian Peninsula, southern France, and Cyprus.
Paruroctonus boreus, commonly known as the northern scorpion, is a species of scorpion in the family Vaejovidae. It is the northernmost species of scorpion, the only scorpion found in Canada, and one of the scorpions with the broadest distribution over North America.
Superstitionia donensis is a species of scorpion, the only species in the genus Superstitionia and the family Superstitioniidae.
Diplocentridae is a family of scorpions. The roughly 120 species are mostly native to the New World, except for genus Nebo, which is distributed in the Middle East.
Charmus laneaus is a species of non-venomous scorpion in the family Buthidae endemic to Sri Lanka.
Serradigitus is a genus of sawfinger scorpions in the family Vaejovidae. There are more than 20 described species in Serradigitus.
Buthoscorpio is a genus of scorpions in the family Buthidae.
Euscorpius carpathicus is a species of scorpion endemic to the Romanian Carpathians. It is the type species of the genus Euscorpius.
