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-Mesobuthus caucasicus przewalskii (Birula 1897), from Tuokexun County, Xia Village (42u479N, 88u409E): a, b, d-m: female; c: male. a. Carapace, dorsal aspect; b, c. Genital operculum and pectines, ventral aspect; d, e. Chelicera (d, ventral; e, dorsal); f, g. Chela (f, dorsoexternal; g, ventral); h, i. Patella (h, external; i, dorsal); j. Femur, dorsal aspect; k. Metasomal segment I-IV, dorsal aspect, showing the pigments; l. Metasomal segment V, ventral aspect; m. Metasomal segment V and telson, lateral aspect.
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Mesobuthus karshius new species from the southern region of Xinjiang, China, is described. Nine species and subspecies of the genus Mesobuthus Vachon 1950 from China are recorded, and diagnoses of M. eupeus mongolicus (Birula 1911), M. eupeus thersites (C.L. Koch 1839) and M. martensii martensii (Karsch 1879) are provided. In addition, M. caucasicu...
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Citations
... Historically, the Przewalski's scorpion was first described from the eastern edge of the Tarim Basin, near Lob-nor and oasis of the Cherchen river (Birula, 1897). Earlier reports suggested that this species might wide spread in Xinjiang, northwest China Sun & Sun, 2011) and may also occur in Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (Fet et al., 2000). However, recent revisions (Fet et al., 2018;Kovařík, 2019) and our result of ecological niche modeling implied that its occurrence to the north (i.e. the Junggar Basin) and west (i.e. ...
Reliable delimitation of venomous scorpions is not only consequential to toxicological studies but also instructive to conservation and exploration of these important medical resources. In the present study, we delimited species boundary for the the Przewalski’s scorpion from arid northwest China through a combined approach employing phylogenetic analysis, ecological niche modeling and morphological comparison. Our results indicate that the Przewalski’s scorpion represent an independent taxonomic unit and should be recognized as full species rank, Mesobuthus przewalskii stat. nov. This species and the Chinese scorpion M. martensii represent the eastern members of the M. caucasicus species group which manifests a trans-Central Asia distribution across the Tianshan Mountains range. We also discussed the likely geographic barrier and climatic boundary that demarcate distributional range of the the Przewalski’s scorpion.
... Historically, the Przewalski's scorpion was first described from the eastern edge of the Tarim Basin, near Lob-nor and oasis of the Cherchen river (Birula, 1897). Earlier reports suggested that this species might wide spread in Xinjiang, northwest China Sun & Sun, 2011) and may also occur in Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (Fet et al., 2000). However, recent revisions (Fet et al., 2018;Kovařík, 2019) and our result of ecological niche modeling implied that its occurrence to the north (i.e. the Junggar Basin) and west (i.e. ...
Although venoms of scorpions have been subjected to extensive characterization,species status of venomous scorpions still remain s to be critically and robustly assessed. Reliable delimitation of venomous scorpions is not only consequential to toxicological studies but also instructive to conservation and exploration of these important medical resources. In the present study, we delimited species boundary for the the Przewalski's scorpion from arid northwest China through a combined approach employing phylogenetic analysis, ecological niche modeling and morphological comparison. Our results indicate that the the Przewalski's scorpion represent an independent taxonomic unit and should be recognized as full species rank, Mesobuthus przewalsii stat. n. This species and the Chinese scorpion M. martensii represent the eastern members of the M. caucasicus species group which manifests a trans-Central Asia distribution across the Tianshan Mountains range. We also discussed the likely geographic barrier and climatic boundary that demarcate distributional range of the the Przewalski's scorpion.
... Indeed, M. eupeus is probably the most widely dispersed species of the Mesobuthus genus, perhaps even of the family Buthidae [134]. These scorpions have a yellow to yellowbrown color and can reach a size of 4 to 5 cm in length [135]. They do not dig burrows but seek for shelter in natural cavities and spaces under stones and other objects [135]. ...
... These scorpions have a yellow to yellowbrown color and can reach a size of 4 to 5 cm in length [135]. They do not dig burrows but seek for shelter in natural cavities and spaces under stones and other objects [135]. They feed on small insects such as crickets and small cockroaches which they do not catch with their slender pedipalps but immobilize with their venom [135]. ...
... They do not dig burrows but seek for shelter in natural cavities and spaces under stones and other objects [135]. They feed on small insects such as crickets and small cockroaches which they do not catch with their slender pedipalps but immobilize with their venom [135]. ...
Drug discovery and development programs have historically mainly focused on plants with medicinal properties and the extensive knowledge of traditional healers about these plants. More recently, the vast array of marine invertebrates and insects throughout the world have been recognized as additional sources for identifying unusual lead compounds to obtain structurally novel and mechanistically unique therapeutics. The results from these efforts are encouraging and have yielded a number of clinically useful drugs. However, many arthropods other than insects-such as spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, sea spiders, centipedes, and millipedes-also produce hundreds of bioactive substances in their venom that may become useful in the clinic. Many of these chemicals are defensive and predatory weapons of these creatures and have been refined during millions of years of evolution to rapidly and with high specificity and high affinity shut down critical molecular targets in prey and predators. Exploration of these compounds may lead to the development of, among others, novel drugs for treating diseases caused by abnormalities in humans in the same (evolutionary conserved) molecular targets such as erectyle dysfunction, botulism, and autoimmune disorders, as well as the identification of novel antineoplastic, antimicrobial, and antiparasitic compounds. This paper addresses the importance of bioactive compounds from spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, sea spiders, centipedes, and millipedes to these advances.
... After a careful inspection of old travelogues of the type series P.K. Kozlov, all samples were collected on territories now belonging to China [Autonomous Region Inner Mongolia: Alxa Zuoqi (in chinese: 阿拉善左旗)] (cf. SUN & SUN 2011, HEDDERGOTT et al. 2016). According to current knowledge, the subspecies only occurs in central Asia (Mongolia and China) (cf. ...
... According to current knowledge, the subspecies only occurs in central Asia (Mongolia and China) (cf. ZUH et al. 2004, SHI et al. 2007, SUN & SUN 2011, HEDDERGOTT et al. 2016. In Mongolia, M. e. mongolicus is present in the desert or desertsteppe and occurs in all southern areas. ...
In the present study, we investigated morphological variation of Mesobuthus eupeus mongolicus
(Birula, 1911) in Mongolia. Samples were collected in 16 sites located in the provinces
Bayankhongor, Khovd, Dundgovi, Dornogovi, Govisümber and Ömnögovi. Statistical analyses
(Kruska-Wallis one-way ANOVA, PCA and hierarchical cluster analysis) showed that (a)
morphologically the M. e. mongolicus males sampled in Dundgovi, Dornogovi, Govisümber and
Ömnögovi were similar to each other, while the populations of Bayankhongor and Khovd were
differentiated, and (b) the females from Bayankhongor, Dundgovi, Dornogovi, Govisümber and
Ömnögovi had a similar morphology, while the population from Khovd was differentiated.
... The genus Mesobuthus Vachon, 1950 is currently believed to contain 13 species of scorpions (FET & LOWE 2000;LOURENÇO et al. 2009;KOVAŘÍK 2007;SUN & SUN 2011). It is the geographically most wide-spread genus with the family Buthidae C.L. Koch, 1837, with species occurring from the Balkans in Europe, Anatolia and Iran throughout most of Asia to Japan. ...
... Currently there is no species checklist for the genus, which is in no small part due to the large number of subspecies that have been described (FET & LOWE 2000). While some more recent keys are in use (TIKADER & BASTAWADA 1983;VACHON 1958;SUN & SUN 2011), species identification is still mostly based on old keys and the type description of BIRULA (1897,1900,1904,1905,1911,1917). ...
... After thorough examination of location names on old maps, it was concluded that none of the sampling sites reported by BIRULA (1911) were within the borders of the present Mongolian territory, but located within the present day Axla Left Banner [= "Alashan Provinz" in BIRULA (1911)], an administrative divison located in the west of Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of northern China. In other words, the type locality of M. e. mongolicus was situated in present-day China (see SUN & SUN 2011), as was the Buthus martensii [= M. m. martensii] record by BIRULA (1911). In this context, it is perhaps worth mentioning that HARVEY (2003) already recognised that the type locality given in BIRULA (1911) for Galeodes caspius kozlovi, a spider from the order Solifugae that is today known as Galeodes kozlovi, was located in China. ...
In the present study, we surveyed the diversity of scorpions in six provinces of Mongolia (Bayankhongor,
Khovd, Dundgovi, Dornogovi, Govisümber and Ömnögovi) between 2001 and 2012. A
total of 385 individuals were collected at 17 different sites. In addition to opportunistic sampling,
animals were collected after detection with ultraviolet light. Only species from the genus Mesobuthus
have been reported from Mongolia thus far. It was possible to confirm the occurrence of the
species Mesobuthus eupeus mongolicus and report the presence of M. martensii martensii for the
first time. We could not confirm the presence of M. caucasicus przewalskii and suggest that it does
not occur in the country, since earlier records originated from present-day China. We provide initial
information on the ecology of the two species we identified. Individuals of M. eupeus mongolicus
from western Mongolia have a darker pigmentation of the metasomal segments I-IV than individuals
from central or southern Mongolia.
... Scorpions in the genus Mesobuthus Vachon, 1950 occur in a variety of arid habitats in the Palearctic Region, with 13 species having been reported so far (Fet & Lowe, 2000;Gantenbein et al., 2000;Lourenço et al., 2005;Kovařík, 2007;Teruel & Rein, 2010;Sun & Sun, 2011). In the east range of distribution, Mongolia which covers 1.56 million square kilometers between 41°35'-52°06'N and 87°47'-119°57'E, carries an extreme continental temperate climate and harbors an extensive array of arid ecosystems, including the Gobi deserts. ...
... New occurrence sites in Mongolia were combined with records from Stahnke (1967Stahnke ( , 1970 and with records from Shi et al. (2007Shi et al. ( , 2013 and Sun & Sun (2011) in China to perform ecological niche modeling for scorpion (Table 1). We only included the occurrence points of the subspecies M. eupeus mongolicus in ENM, and records for the other subspecies were excluded. ...
... Of a total 134 investigated sites, including 63 stopovers and 71 camping sites where scorpion search was also conducted at night, we only successfully collected scorpions at 10 sites (Table 1), all located in the Southern Gobi (Fig. 1A). All specimens were identified as M. eupeus mongolicus basing on morphological description of Shi et al. (2007) and Sun & Sun (2011). No other scorpion species was discovered in Mongolia during our field survey. ...
Scorpion fauna of Mongolia, which are thus far poorly understood, were investigated
country-wide during a China-Mongolia joint field survey from 2009 to 2012. Of the total 134
sites we surveyed, scorpions were found at 10 sites in the southern Gobi regions, Umnugovi and
Dornogovi Aimags (Provinces) of Mongolia. All scorpions collected from Mongolia belong to a
single species, Mesobuthus eupeus mongolicus. Combining with its occurrence records in China,
we assembled 98 presence data for M. eupeus mongolicus and predicted its geographical
distribution using ecological niche modeling approach. This species occurs exclusively in the
arid deserts and steppes, ranging from the west extreme of Junggar Basin (Xinjiang) to the Gobi
deserts in North China and South Mongolia, with its distributional margins set by the Altai
Mountains in the north, the Tian-Shan Mountains and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the south,
and the Loess Plateau in the east. We found that ecological niche models could accurately
predict (AUC = 0.880 ± 0.016) geographic distribution of M. eupeus mongolicus. Our results
show that climate is a reliable predictor for the geographic range of M. eupeus mongolicus,
implying that climate might have exerted a dominant control over the natural occurrence of this
species. A brief note on the ecology of M. eupeus mongolicus was also provided.
... 9), which included 5 families, 9 genera, 19 species and subspecies. Qi et al (2005) discovered eight new species of Chaerilidae (Chaerilus) and Euscorpiidae (Euscorpiops and Scorpiops). Di et al (2011a) reviewed the scorpions of Yunnan, recording eight previously known species and described one new species to China: Euscorpiops kubani Kovařík, 2004. Sun & Sun (2011 reviewed the genus Mesobuthus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in China, recorded Nine species and subspecies including a new species: Mesobuthus karshius Sun & Sun, 2011. Di et al (2013a reviewed the scorpions from Hainan Island and Tibet: 5 species and 26 species were recorded in Hainan and Tibet respectively. ...
... Di et al (2011a) reviewed the scorpions of Yunnan, recording eight previously known species and described one new species to China: Euscorpiops kubani Kovařík, 2004. Sun & Sun (2011 reviewed the genus Mesobuthus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) in China, recorded Nine species and subspecies including a new species: Mesobuthus karshius Sun & Sun, 2011. Di et al (2013a reviewed the scorpions from Hainan Island and Tibet: 5 species and 26 species were recorded in Hainan and Tibet respectively. ...
This review describes the history of taxonomic research on scorpions and provides an updated checklist and key of the scorpions currently known in China. This checklist is based on a thorough review of the extant literatures on scorpion species whose presence has been confirmed in China through field expeditions and examination of scorpion collections, excepting a few members that have no clear distribution or are currently in doubt. Totally, the scorpion fauna of China consists of 53 species and subspecies belonging to 12 genera crossing five families, with 33 species (62.3%) and one genus being recorded as endemic. Additionally, identification key and the distribution of scorpions from China are provided.
... Subsequently, new genera, new species, a new record of genera and species, and re-descriptions were reported continuously . At the same time, some revisions on scorpion distribution and taxonomy of the genera were completed [16,20,29,30,[33][34][35][36]. A recent report began to focus on the impact of climate and environmental changes on the evolution and formation of scorpion species from China [38]. ...
Scorpions are one of the most ancient groups of terrestrial animals. They have maintained a steady morphology over more than 400 million years of evolution. Their venom arsenals for capturing prey and defending against predators may play a critical role in their ancient and conservative appearance. In the current review, we present the scorpion fauna of China: 53 species covering five families and 12 genera. We also systematically list toxins or genes from Chinese scorpion species, involving eight species covering four families. Furthermore, we review the diverse functions of typical toxins from Chinese scorpion species, involving Na+ channel modulators, K+ channel blockers, antimicrobial peptides and protease inhibitors. Using scorpion species and their toxins from China as an example, we build the bridge between scorpion species and their toxins, which helps us to understand the molecular and functional diversity of scorpion venom arsenal, the dynamic and functional evolution of scorpion toxins, and the potential relationships of scorpion species and their toxins.
... Pedipalps: Tegument coarse. Femur with external, dorsointernal, dorsoexternal, ventrointernal, ventroexternal and internal carinae with round granules; tegument with few small granules dorsally (Fig. 125) which also belong to Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (Sun and Sun, 2011). We conjecture the vast area of gap of scorpion distribution in the north of Xizang and the south of Qinghai is caused by the cold and clammy climate. ...
Until now, there are 26 scorpion species of 7 genera of 5 families recorded in Xizang (China). Xizang Autonomous Region (Tibet) is the scorpion biodiversity richest area in China (53 scorpion species of 12 genera of 5 families), also the highest altitude habitat of scorpions in the world. We present information of type specimens, an identification key of the scorpion species from Xizang, the distribution, updated feature pictures, and discussion on the disputed species. The redescriptions of Scorpiops jendeki Kovařík, 2000 (Yunnan) and Scorpiops tibetanus Hirst, 1911 (Xizang), comments and feature figures of species of genus Scorpiops are provided for identification.
... In contrast, these 2 lateral eyes were difficult to recognize when specimens were examined under normal white light (Figure 2. B). We also found different depictions on this number in previous publications, i.e. 5 in Kishida [9], 3 in Qi, et al. [10] and Sun & Sun [11]. ...
... Kovařík [50] found four lateral eyes for Butheolus species, and pointed out that ''the fourth eye'' ''may possibly be overlooked''. In our study, we found species M. martensii [9,10,11,15], M. caucasicus [11,15,16,17,51] and M. eupeus with their subspecies [11,12,13,14,15,51] were studied numerous of times. Though there was no lack of good descriptions with drawings or high-tech photography among these studies, e.g. ...
... Kovařík [50] found four lateral eyes for Butheolus species, and pointed out that ''the fourth eye'' ''may possibly be overlooked''. In our study, we found species M. martensii [9,10,11,15], M. caucasicus [11,15,16,17,51] and M. eupeus with their subspecies [11,12,13,14,15,51] were studied numerous of times. Though there was no lack of good descriptions with drawings or high-tech photography among these studies, e.g. ...
This study reports the results of a re-analysis of the number of lateral eyes in extant buthids. Specimens studied were confined mostly to those from China and the adjacent areas. 353 specimens belonging to 20 species (subspecies) and 8 genera were rechecked and found to have 5 pairs of lateral eyes contrary to earlier published works which reported the presence of 3 pairs of lateral eyes only. Combined with reported examples collected through reference investigation including 63 species from 16 genera, our study here shows a total of 79 species from 21 genera of scorpions spanning Asia and Africa had 5 pairs of lateral eyes. Reasons for not observing the presence of the extra lateral eyes are discussed and new protocols for examining specimens including using UV light are proposed to aid lateral eye recognition. Besides, a majority of genera in Buthidae are suggested to be in “Five-eye” model and a re-examination of all previously published taxonomic studies of buthid species is highly recommended.
