Figures 250-25 - uploaded by Matthew R Graham
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8: Mesobuthus parthorum. Figures 250, 252, 254-255, 257-258. Male from Ghazni, Afghanistan, chelicerae, carapace and tergites I-III (250), sternopectinal region and sternites III-V (252), metasoma V and telson lateral (254), right pedipalp dorsal (255), and right legs III-IV, retrolateral aspect (257-258). Figures 251, 253, 256. Female from Kholm, Afghanistan, chelicerae, carapace and tergites I-III (251), sternopectinal region and sternites III-IV (253), right pedipalp dorsal (256).
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A widespread Mesobuthus caucasicus complex, which includes some of the most common scorpions found from the Caucasus to China, is revised for the first time based on new extensive collections from Central Asia, using both morphological and DNA marker data. Mesobuthus caucasicus (Nordmann, 1840), s.str. is restricted to the Caucasus Mts. Four taxa a...
Citations
... Herz ( -1905 with the label "Guberlinsky Mountains", previously identified as M. caucasicus parthorum (Pocock, 1889) (now, Olivierus sp.) and Orthochirus scrobiculosus scrobiculosus (Grube, 1873) (now, Orthochirus sp.). Both of these species do not live in Russia, but are found in Middle Asia [Fet et al., 2018;Kovařík et al., 2020]. This error was also noted by Fet [1989], pointing out that this is a locality error for these two species. ...
Based on a study of a number of populations of Mesobuthus bogdoensis, the results of studying the phylogeographic structure and morphological variability are presented, and an analysis of the distribution of this species is carried out based on an analysis of the literature and our own data. An expanded diagnosis and morphological description for M. bogdoensis is presented. It has been proven that the indication in a number of literary sources of scorpions for the Guberlinsky Mountains (Orenburg Region, Russia) is a label error. In populations of M. bogdoensis from the right bank of the Volga River, a unique morphological character was identified — anal lobe divided in three parts; it is the first species of this genus to have two or three anal lobes; for other species the following combinations are known — two, three and three or four anal lobes. Principal component analysis (PCA) results based on comparative measurements of proportions indicate that the contribution of differences between different populations is less pronounced than the contribution of differences between males and females.
... In the vast majority of cases, they have a visible subaculear tubercle, which may be small in some species. The sternum is subtriangular in adults [8][9][10]. ...
They do not have a popular name, at least among non-native people. They are occasionally referred to as crickets, although they are not Grylloidea, but Stenopelmatoidea. Easily identifiable by the convex body in lateral view, shiny, glabrous integument, and with both apterous sexes. The anterior thigh has a lobe with spines. During the day they remain hidden under logs or stones, leaf litter, or in burrows dug by themselves. Buthidae are found throughout Brazil and makeup around 60% of national species. This family includes the genus Tityus Koch, 1966 (Scorpiones, Buthidae), the most dangerous. The species that exist in Brazil are divided into four families. This note reports for the first time the genus Lutosa Walker, 1869 in the Central-West Region, State of Goiás, Brazil, and the first report of the entire process of locust predation in the world.
... Their distribution strides west-east in tandem from the Mediterranean to east China, and mirrors a trans-Eurasian section of climate types. This group may have originated in West Asia (Anatolia) in the mid-Miocene (Shi et al. 2013), and since then undergone extensive diversification and biogeographic evolution driven by regional tectonics (Mirshamsi et al. 2010(Mirshamsi et al. , 2011 and climate changes (Shi et al. 2013), which gave rise to more than 30 species with Central Asia being the center of diversity (Fet et al. 2000(Fet et al. , 2018(Fet et al. , 2021Graham et al. 2019;Kovařík 2019). A recent revision of the genus described additional 14 new species (Kovařík et al. 2022). ...
... A recent revision of the genus described additional 14 new species (Kovařík et al. 2022). Currently, at least five species occur to the east of the Tian Shan-Pamir ranges in China and Mongolia (Shi and Zhang 2005;Shi et al. 2007;Di et al. 2014;Fet et al. 2018;Zhang et al. 2020). The varying divergences among these species/lineages provide opportunities for testing biogeographical hypotheses in geo-climatic contexts with varying spatial and temporal scales. ...
... This scorpion was formerly known as M. eupeus mongolicus and has recently been upgraded to an independent species (Kovařík 2019). It represents the easternmost member of the M. eupeus complex (Shi et al. 2015a;Fet et al. 2018). The Gobi population of M. mongolicus has been proposed as a product of the out-of-Central Asia move of its ancestors during the late Pleistocene (Shi et al. 2013). ...
A comprehensive understanding of phylogeography requires the integration of knowledge across different organisms, ecosystems, and geographic regions. However, a critical knowledge gap exists in the arid biota of the vast Asian drylands. To narrow this gap, here we test an “out-of-Central Asia” hypothesis for the desert scorpion Mesobuthus mongolicus by combining Bayesian phylogeographic reconstruction and ecological niche modeling. Phylogenetic analyses of one mitochondrial and three nuclear loci and molecular dating revealed that M. mongolicus represents a coherent lineage that diverged from its most closely related lineage in Central Asia about 1.36 Ma and underwent radiation ever since. Bayesian phylogeographic reconstruction indicated that the ancestral population dispersed from Central Asia gradually eastward to the Gobi region via the Junggar Basin, suggesting that the Junggar Basin has severed as a corridor for Quaternary faunal exchange between Central Asia and East Asia. Two major dispersal events occurred probably during interglacial periods (around 0.8 Ma and 0.4 Ma, respectively) when climatic conditions were analogous to present-day status, under which the scorpion achieved its maximum distributional range. M. mongolicus underwent demographic expansion during the Last Glacial Maximum, although the predicted distributional areas were smaller than those at present and during the Last Interglacial. Development of desert ecosystems in northwest China incurred by intensified aridification might have opened up empty habitats that sustained population expansion. Our results extend the spatiotemporal dimensions of trans-Eurasia faunal exchange and suggest that species’ adaptation is an important determinant of their phylogeographic and demographic responses to climate changes.
... Scorpions represent the arachnid order with more than 2700 described species (Rein, 2022). Despite this diversity, the whole order displays a uniform external morphology, and this fact complicates species delimitation (e.g., Fet et al., 2018) and the classification (see Sharma et al., 2015). Cytogenetic analysis can thus be useful tool to detect cryptic species diversity (e.g., Štundlová et al., 2019) and may help to identify distinct evolutionary lineages of scorpions (e.g., Šťáhlavský et al., 2020). ...
The chromosomes of two species belonging to the scorpion family Iuridae are studied for the first time. Both analysed species displayed achiasmatic meiosis and no morphologically differentiated sex chromosomes; these features are typical for all scorpions. Both species possessed monocentric chromosomes, a characteristic specific to the entire parvorder Iurida. The karyotype of Calchas nordmanni Birula, 1899 is composed of 82 chromosomes, and the diploid number of chromosomes in Neocalchas gruberi is 40. Despite this conspicuous difference in 2n chromosome morphology is mainly acro-centric. Both species possess two pairs of the 18S rDNA clusters identified by FISH. A higher number of rDNA loci may represent an ancestral state for the parvorder Iurida.
... L. Koch, 1839), 4-Mesobuthus afghanus (Pocock, 1889), 5-Mesobuthus macmahoni (Pocock, 1900), 6-Mesobuthus caucasicus (Nordmann, 1840), 7-Mesobuthus vesiculatus (Pocock, 1899), 8-Mesobuthus iranus , 9-Mesobuthus phillipsii (Pocock, 1889), and 10-Mesobuthus macmahoni (Pocock, 1900). 11-Mesobuthus parthorum (Pocock, 1889), 12-Mesobuthus brutus (Fet et al., 2018). A. 2-Genus Androctonus: 13-Androctonus crassicauda (Olivier, 1807), 14-Androctonus baluchicus (Pocock, 1900), and 15-Androctonus robustus (Ya gmur et al., 2016). ...
... Razavi Khorasan province: There are ten scorpion species in this province including: 1-Mesobuthus eupeus, 2-Mesobuthus afghanus, 3-Mesobuthus thersites, 4-Mesobuthus caucasicus, 5-Mesobuthus parthorum, 6-Odontobuthus doriae, 7-Odontobuthus tirgari, 8-Orthochirus scrobiculosus and 9-Liobuthus kessleri, all belonging to Buthidae family, and 10-Scorpio maurus kruglovi (Azghadi et al., 2014;Vatani and Khoobdel, 2009;Kova rík, 2019;Mirshamsi et al., 2011b;Cokendolpher et al., 2019;Fet et al., 2018). ...
... Zanjan province: In this region, there are seven scorpion species including: 1-Mesobuthus eupeus, 2-Mesobuthus brutus, 3-Androctonus crassicauda, 4-Hottentotta salucyi, 5-Hottentotta zagrosensis, 6-Odontobuthus doriae form Buthidae family and 7-Scorpio maurus townsendi from Scorpionidae family (Fet et al., 2018;Moradi et al., 2015). ...
There are 2,612 and 80 scorpion species in the world and Iran, respectively. Iran is rich in climatic conditions and biodiversity. In this study, new data on scorpion fauna of different physiographic areas of Iran were obtained from various databases, including plains and deserts, eastern area of the Caspian Sea, western and central areas of the Caspian Sea, heights and foothills, the west coast of the Persian Gulf and the east coast of the Persian Gulf. Then, spatial distribution maps for scorpion species in different physiographic areas were prepared using ARC GIS software. There are three families (Buthidae, Hemiscorpiidae, and Scorpionidae), 19 genera, and 80 species and subspecies. In plains and deserts, there are three families, 15 genera, and 37 scorpion species; in the Caspian Sea area, there is only one family with four scorpions; in heights and foothills, there are three families, 14 genera, and 35 scorpion species; in the west coast of the Persian Gulf, there are three families, 13 genera, and 31 scorpion species, and finally, in the east coast of the Persian Gulf, there are three families, 14 genera, and 35 scorpion species. The Buthidae is the most prevalent family in Iran. Because of good climatological conditions on the east and west coast of the Persian Gulf, there are three families of scorpions, 18 genera, and 45 species. The majority of scorpion species inhabit this region, and the highest rate of scorpionism and death due to scorpion sting occurs in this part of Iran.
... The extraordinary richness combined with difficult accessibility of some taxa precluded a comprehensive assessment of the family's phylogeny (Borges and Graham, 2016;Ojanguren-Affilastro et al., 2017;Santibáñez-López et al., 2022). Contemporary molecular studies thus focused on specific taxonomic questions (e.g., Sousa et al., 2011;Pedroso et al., 2013;Esposito et al., 2018;Fet et al., 2018;Cain et al., 2021;Klesser et al., 2021) and biogeographic hypotheses testing (e.g., Fet et al., 2003;Shi et al., 2013;Esposito and Prendini, 2019). The traditional morphological grouping was supported by molecular data in the case of the Buthus and Tityus groups (e.g., Borges and Graham, 2016;Ojanguren-Affilastro et al., 2017;Santibáñez-López et al., 2022), including the subfamily Centruroidinae (Esposito and Prendini 2019). ...
The family Buthidae represents an early-diverging and most species-rich lineage of extant scorpions, but its internal phylogenetic relationships are still poorly understood. The family is traditionally divided into six morpho-groups; however, the monophyly of some of them remains unclear. We combined multilocus sequence data with extensive taxon sampling to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships among Buthidae and assess the validity of the morphology-based groupings. We recovered a monophyletic Buthus group as a sister clade to all the remaining Buthidae. We also found support for the monophyly of the Tityus group, but the remaining morpho-groups were recovered as para-/polyphyletic. Our results also suggest that some genera are in need of a taxonomic revision.
... from Kerman Province have been described, increasing the total number of Odontobuthus species to nine in Iran. [9] Some scorpion species names have been changed, such as Simonoides farzanpayi to Orthochirus farzanpayi, Odontobuthus odonturus to Odontobuthus bidentatus, and Apistobuthus pterygocergus to Apistobuthus susanae. In addition, Mesobuthus eupeus phillipsii has been uplifted to species level as Mesobuthus phillipsii. ...
Original Aims: The current study aimed to study the scorpion ecology and fauna of Masjed‑Soleyman County, southwestern Iran to manage scorpion
sting‑related problems during 2016–2017. Materials and Methods: Scorpions were collected from different localities of Masjed‑Soleyman
using rock‑rolling, digging the ground, Ultra Violet flashlight, pouring water in holes, and ordinary flashlight methods. The collected scorpions
were placed to 70% alcohol. Morphological studies were completed under a stereomicroscope. The scorpion species were identified using
diagnostic valid key for the Iranian scorpions. Results: Out of the 318 collected scorpions, 10 species from three families, buthidae (71.1%),
scorpionidae (2.2%), and hemiscorpiidae (26.7%) were identified. The most abundant species were Androctonus crassicauda (32.4%),
Hemiscorpius lepturus (26.7%), and Mesobuthus phillipsii (21.4%). The females were the dominant sex, i.e., 1.7:1 (F/M) sex ratio. The highest
number of scorpions were caught in August (27.7%). The highest abundant of scorpions were collected in summer (65.7%). Furthermore,
the majority of specimens were hunted through of ultraviolet flashlight (44.4%).The most abundant scorpions were caught in animal
husbandry (23.6%). Conclusion: Because treatment of the patients who received stings should be managed according to the kind of their venom
and the scorpion species, it is important for planning treatment and prevention according to the species composition of scorpions of each region.Article
... In this sense, our phylogeny demonstrates a 12.02% CO1 divergence (uncorrected p-distance) between eastern and western Brazilian T. obscurus populations, which may underlie differences in ion channel-specific toxin expression patterns as recorded in the case of populations of the Chinese scorpion Lychas mucronatus [80]. Molecular clock estimates suggest that the two populations shared a common ancestor in the Miocene, an evolutionary depth usually attributed to different species in scorpions [81,82]. Thus, T. obscurus likely represents at least two morphologically similar but toxinologically disparate species. ...
Venom from Amazonian scorpions of the genus Tityus contains components capable of eliciting a distinct clinical, mostly neurological, syndrome. This contrasts with the mainly autonomic manifestations produced after envenomation by congeneric southern and northern South American species. Herein, we summarize Pan-Amazonian scorpionism by synthesizing available toxinological, clinical, and molecular data gathered from all affected areas in Amazonia, including Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and French Guiana. We searched multiple databases, as well as our own records, for reports of scorpion envenomations in Amazonia by confirmed Tityus spp., and compared the clinical manifestations. To help uncover clinical and venom relationships among problematic species, we explored phylogenetic relationships with a rate-calibrated analysis of mitochondrial COI data from available species. The possible existence of diversity gradients for venom toxic and immunogenic components despite the predicted strong phylogenetic association among species is underscored by discussed clinical and toxinological findings. A multicentric effort, involving all nations affected by this neglected disease, is urgently needed to offer alternatives for treating and understanding this pathology, including the preparation of neutralizing antibodies with a broad range of efficacy.
... Molecular clock estimates place the origins of several clades in the Pliocene or Miocene (Fig. 3), ages usually associated with different species in other scorpion groups (i.e., Ceccarelli et al., 2016;Fet et al., 2018;Luna-Ramirez et al., 2017). However, based on our analyses, these clades Fig. 4 Species distribution models for Vaejovis carolinianus. ...
The Southern Appalachians and adjacent provinces of the southeastern USA are geologically and biologically diverse, with high levels of endemism. Phylogeographic analyses indicate that animals with small distributions in these regions often contain cryptic diversity and that Pleistocene climate fluctuations had significant impacts on their distributions. We studied the phylogeography of Vaejovis carolinianus (Beauvois), a common forest scorpion from the region, to determine if a more widely distributed animal exhibits similar patterns. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as species distribution models, were used to test biogeographic hypotheses. Results indicate that the species is composed of at least nine geographically structured mitochondrial clades. Seven clades are represented by only a few sampling locations, whereas two clades are much larger and appear to be the result of postglacial range expansion in the plateaus and coastal plains adjacent to the Southern Appalachians. A highly disjunct population from Tunica Hills of Louisiana appears to have been isolated since the Pliocene, rejecting a hypothesis of late glacial migration along the Blufflands escarpment. Nuclear DNA is much less structured, perhaps due to differences in habitat and dispersal capabilities between sexes. Although mitochondrial lineages are quite old, mito-nuclear discordance suggests that lineages have not sorted and that V. carolinianus should be treated as a single genetically diverse species.
... Here, we formally describe three of the DNAbased clades defined by Graham et al. (2019) as new species, restricting Olivierus gorelovi to Turkmenistan and southern Uzbekistan. Readers are referred to detailed discussion in Fet et al. (2018) and Graham et al. (2019) for more information. ...
Following Graham et al. (2019), the recently described desert species Olivierus gorelovi (Fet et al., 2018) from Central Asia is herein restricted to Turkmenistan and southern Uzbekistan. In this contribution, we described other populations formerly included in O. gorelovi as three new species: O. mikhailovi sp. n. (southern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan), O. tarabaevi sp. n. (Kazakhstan) and O. voldemari sp. n. (Uzbekistan: Ferghana Valley).
