Related Research Articles
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 Buthidae are the largest family of scorpions, containing about 96 genera and over 1230 species as of 2021. 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 new species per year. They occur in the warmer parts of every major landmass on Earth, except Antarctica and New Zealand. Together with four other families, the Buthidae make up the superfamily Buthoidea. The family was established by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1837.
Centruroides is a genus of scorpions of the family Buthidae. Several North American species are known by the common vernacular name bark scorpion. Numerous species are extensively found throughout the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, the Antilles and northern South America. Some are known for their interesting patterning or large size ; most if not all fluoresce strongly under ultraviolet illumination, except after moulting. They contain several highly venomous species, and fatalities are known to occur. The venom of the Mexican scorpion Centruroides limpidus limpidus contains the neurotoxins Cll1 and Cll2.
Tityus is a large genus of thick-tailed scorpions, the namesake of its subfamily Tityinae. As of 2021, Tityus contains more than 220 described species distributed in Central America and South America, from Costa Rica to Argentina.
Hoffmannius is a genus of scorpions in the family Vaejovidae. It comprises the following species:
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 Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and China (Tibet). It is notable for containing some of the largest living species of scorpions.
The Vaejovidae are a family of scorpions, comprising 17 genera, all except for Paruroctonus boreus(the northernmost scorpions in the world, present in Canada) found in Mexico and the Southern/Southwestern United States.
Compsobuthus is a genus of buthid scorpions.
The Bothriuridae are a family of scorpions, comprising 151 species in 16 genera.
Tityus exstinctus is an extinct species of scorpion belonging to the family Buthidae. It is only known from a single male collected in 1884 in the northern range of Martinique. The species epithet based on the fact that this taxon was already extinct when it was described.
Chaerilus is a genus of scorpions in the family Chaerilidae. They live in tropical parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. A fossil genus Electrochaerilus is known from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) aged Burmese amber.
Isometrus is a genus of scorpion belonging and being eponymous to the family Buthidae. Some species are currently assigned to the genus Reddyanus.
The Chactidae are a family of scorpions established by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1893. They make up the superfamily Chactoidea.
The Scorpionidae make up the superfamily Scorpionoidea. The family was established by Pierre André Latreille, 1802.
The Euscorpiidae are a family of scorpions.
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.
Opisthacanthus is a genus of scorpions in the family Hormuridae occurring in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Madagascar.
Hormuridae is a family of scorpions in the order Scorpiones. There are about 10 genera and more than 90 described species in Hormuridae.
Lychas is a genus of scorpions belonging to the family Buthidae. It is one of the most widespread genus of the scorpions, where the species are found throughout in Africa and Seychelles, and in the Oriental region from India to Melanesia.
References
- ↑ Dunlop, Jason A.; Penney, David; Tetlie, O. Erik; Anderson, Lyall I. (2008). "How many species of fossil arachnids are there". Journal of Arachnology. BioOne. 36 (2): 262–272. doi:10.1636/CH07-89.1 . Retrieved 2010-04-07.
- ↑ Soleglad, Michael E.; Fet, Victor (2003). "High-level systematics and phylogeny of the extant scorpions (Scorpiones: Orthosterni)" (multiple parts). Euscorpius. Marshall University. 11: 1–175. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
- ↑ Stockwell, Scott A., 1989. Revision of the Phylogeny and Higher Classification of Scorpions (Chelicerata). Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley
- ↑ Soleglad, Michael E.; Fet, Victor; Kovařík, F. (2005). "The systematic position of the scorpion genera Heteroscorpion Birula, 1903 and Urodacus Peters, 1861 (Scorpiones: Scorpionoidea)" (PDF). Euscorpius. Marshall University. 20: 1–38. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
- 1 2 Fet, V.; Soleglad, Michael E. (2005). "Contributions to scorpion systematics. I. On recent changes in high-level taxonomy" (PDF). Euscorpius. Marshall University (31): 1–13. ISSN 1536-9307 . Retrieved 2010-04-07.