| Opisthacanthus rugiceps | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Scorpiones |
| Family: | Hemiscorpiidae |
| Genus: | Opisthacanthus |
| Subgenus: | Nepabellus |
| Species: | O. rugiceps |
| Binomial name | |
| Opisthacanthus rugiceps Pocock, 1897 | |
Opisthacanthus rugiceps is a species of African scorpion.
Opisthacanthus rugiceps is found in East Africa, and extends further than 15° south only in Malawi. [1]
Opisthacanthus rugiceps belongs to the "asper group" in the subgenus Nepabellus of the genus Opisthacanthus in the family Liochelidae (Hemiscorpiidae). [2]
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.
The subphylum Chelicerata constitutes one of the major subdivisions of the phylum Arthropoda. It contains the sea spiders, arachnids, and several extinct lineages, such as the eurypterids and chasmataspidids.
A pseudoscorpion, also known as a false scorpion or book scorpion, is an arachnid belonging to the order Pseudoscorpiones, also known as Pseudoscorpionida or Chelonethida.
Thelyphonida is an arachnid order comprising invertebrates commonly known as whip scorpions or vinegaroons. They are often called uropygids in the scientific community based on an alternative name for the order, Uropygi. The name "whip scorpion" refers to their resemblance to true scorpions and possession of a whiplike tail, and "vinegaroon" refers to their ability when attacked to discharge an offensive, vinegar-smelling liquid, which contains acetic acid.
Solifugae is an order of animals in the class Arachnida known variously as camel spiders, wind scorpions, sun spiders, or solifuges. The order includes more than 1,000 described species in about 153 genera. Despite the common names, they are neither true scorpions nor true spiders. Most species of Solifugae live in dry climates and feed opportunistically on ground-dwelling arthropods and other small animals. The largest species grow to a length of 12–15 cm (5–6 in), including legs. A number of urban legends exaggerate the size and speed of the Solifugae, and their potential danger to humans, which is negligible.
The emperor scorpion, Pandinus imperator, is a species of scorpion native to rainforests and savannas in West Africa. It is one of the largest scorpions in the world and lives for 6–8 years. Its body is black, but like other scorpions it glows pastel green or blue under ultraviolet light. It is a popular species in the pet trade, and is protected by CITES.
The deathstalker is a species of scorpion, a member of the family Buthidae. It is also known as the Palestine yellow scorpion, Omdurman scorpion, Naqab desert scorpion and by many other colloquial names, which generally originate from the commercial captive trade of the animal. To eliminate confusion, especially important with potentially dangerous species, the scientific name is normally used to refer to them. The name Leiurus quinquestriatus roughly translates into English as "five-striped smooth-tail". In 2014, the subspecies L. q. hebraeus was separated from it and elevated to its own species Leiurus hebraeus. Other species of the genus Leiurus are also often referred to as "deathstalkers".
Nyctimantis is a genus of frogs in the family Hylidae. It is monotypic, being repredented by the single species, Nyctimantis rugiceps, commonly known as the brown-eyed treefrog. It is known from the Amazonian Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia, and it is likely to occur also in adjacent Brazil. Its natural habitats are primary and secondary lowland tropical rainforest.
The Buthidae are the largest family of scorpions, containing about 80 genera and over 800 species as of mid-2008. Its members are known as, for example, fat-tailed scorpions and bark scorpions. A few very large genera are known, but a high number of species-poor or monotypic ones also exist. New taxa are being described at a rate of several to several dozen new species per year. They occur in the warmer parts of every major landmass on Earth, except on New Zealand. Together with four other families the Buthidae make up the superfamily Buthoidea. The family was established by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1837.
Hemiscorpius is the sole genus of the scorpion family Hemiscorpiidae, with about 16 described species. Before Hemiscorpiidae, the term used for the family was Ischnuridae, which had to be changed due to a naming conflict with the damselfly family of the same name. They at one point also held the name Liochelidae.
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.
Hemilepistus reaumuri is a species of woodlouse that lives in and around the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, "the driest habitat conquered by any species of crustacean". It reaches a length of 22 mm (0.87 in) and a width of up to 12 mm (0.47 in), and has seven pairs of legs which hold its body unusually high off the ground. The species was described in the Description de l'Égypte after the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria of 1798–1801, but was first formally named by Henri Milne-Edwards in 1840 as Porcellio reaumuri. It reached its current scientific name in 1930 after the former subgenus Hemilepistus was raised to the rank of genus.
Gondwanascorpio emzantsiensis is an extinct Gondwanan scorpion that lived 360 million years ago in the Devonian. Its fossil remains, clearly showing pincer and sting, were discovered in rocks of the Witteberg Group near Grahamstown in South Africa. At present this scorpion is the oldest known land-dwelling animal from Gondwana, which in Devonian times was separated from Laurasia by a deep ocean. At the time, the fossil site was only 15° from the South Pole, but rather than arctic like tundra, the region was probably wooded, providing ample insect life for food. Previously only two scorpion species were known from the late Devonian – Hubeiscorpio gracilitarsus from China and Petaloscorpio bureaui from Canada. The species was described by Robert Gess of Wits University in the journal African Invertebrates. The specific epithet derives from umZantsi, the isiXhosa word for "south", sometimes used for South Africa.
Hadogenes soutpansbergensis is a scorpion species endemic to South Africa in the bicolor group of the genus Hadogenes. It is named after the Soutpansberg mountain range where it was found.
Opisthacanthus is a genus of scorpions in the family Hemiscorpiidae (Liochelidae) occurring in central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Madagascar.
Opisthacanthus africanus is a species of African scorpion.
Babycurus buettneri is a species of scorpions belonging to the family Buthidae.
Opisthacanthus capensis is a Cape Province and Zimbabwean species of scorpion with robust chelae, dark brown to black in colour, turning green when under cover for some time. Opisthacanthus is arboreal and ground-dwelling, and found mainly in moist habitats in dense vegetation, pine plantations and forests, hiding under bark and rocks. There are 32 species and subspecies in this genus, all occurring in Southern Africa.
Cheloctonus jonesii is a species of scorpion in the family Hemiscorpiidae (Liochelidae) native to southern Africa.
Hormuridae is a family of scorpions in the order Scorpiones. There are about 10 genera and more than 90 described species in Hormuridae.
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