Scorpionidae
| Scorpionidae | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Emperor Scorpion ( Pandinus imperator ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Scorpionidae | ||||||||||||
| Latreille , 1802 |
The Scorpionidae are a family of the scorpions (Scorpiones). It comprises four genera and about 160 species .
features
Some Scorpionidae can reach body sizes of up to 20 centimeters and a weight of up to 32 grams. With Heterometrus swammerdami from India and Sri Lanka and the emperor scorpion ( Pandinus imperator ), the family includes the largest species of scorpion. The species have a large pentagonal breast plate and strong scissor legs.
distribution and habitat
Species of the Scorpionidae are common in Africa and Asia . They live in forests, rainforests and in steppe areas . They do not occur in desert areas like the Sahara .
Scorpionidae and humans
The large emperor scorpions and some other species are particularly popular as terrarium animals. The poison of the Scorpionidae is relatively harmless in most species, but some also have poisons that can be dangerous for humans.
Systematics
In 1802 Latreille originally put all the scorpions together in the "family" Scorpiones. Later the scorpions became an order that spanned multiple families . The Scorpionidae family was divided into several " subfamilies " by Pocock in 1893 : Diplocentrini, Hemiscorpiini, Ischnurini, Scorpionini and Urodacini. Most of the subfamilies were raised to families of their own or to other families in the 20th century. Ultimately, only the four genera of the Scorpionini remained in the Scorpionidae family.
These four genera occur in biogeographically separate areas of distribution in Africa and Asia:
- Heterometrus Ehrenberg , 1828 ( India and Southeast Asia )
- Opistophthalmus C. L. Koch , 1837 ( Southern Africa )
- Pandinus Thorell , 1876 ( West , East and Central Africa )
- Scorpio Linnaeus , 1758 ( North Africa and the Middle East to southern Turkey and eastern Iran )
In 2003 Michael E. Soleglad and Victor Fet dissolved the Diplocentridae family and added all species of the genera, which are mainly found in North , Central and South America and the Caribbean , to the Scorpionidae family. However, other authors such as Lorenzo Prendini and Ward C. Wheeler of the American Museum of Natural History consider the Diplocentridae to be a closely related family, but separated by clear distinguishing features. In November 2005 they published a reply in which they rejected all changes. Soleglad and Fet replied in December 2005, who insisted on their revision.
In 2005, the family Urodacidae with the only genus Urodacus was dissolved in a revision by Soleglad, Fet and Kovarik and incorporated into the Scorpionidae as the subfamily Urodacinae. However, this regrouping is also not generally recognized. In 2008 Volschenk and Prendini put the newly discovered genus Aops with the species Aops oncodactylus back into the Urodacidae family.
literature
- Lorenzo Prendini, Timothy M. Crowe and Ward C. Wheeler: Systematics and biogeography of the family Scorpionidae (Chelicerata: Scorpiones) with a discussion on phylogenetic methods . Invertebrate Systematics, 17, 2003 pp. 185–259 online version (PDF, English; 4.8 MB)
- Michael E. Soleglad and Victor Fet: High-level systematics and phylogeny of the extant scorpions (Scorpiones: Orthosterni). Euscorpius, No. 11, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, 2003 (abstract and PDF download)
- Lorenzo Prendini and Ward C. Wheeler: Scorpion higher phylogeny and classification, taxonomic anarchy, and standards for peer review in online publishing. Cladistics, 21, Blackwell Synergy, November 2005 pp. 446–494 Online version (PDF, English; 1.8 MB)
- Victor Fet and Michael E. Soleglad: Contributions to Scorpion Systematics. I. On Recent Changes in High-Level Taxonomy . Euscorpius, No. 31, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, 2005 online version (PDF, English; 705 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lorenzo Prendini and Ward C. Wheeler: Scorpion higher phylogeny and classification, taxonomic anarchy, and standards for peer review in online publishing. November 2005
- ^ Victor Fet and Michael E. Soleglad: Contributions to Scorpion Systematics. I. On Recent Changes in High-Level Taxonomy . December 2005
Web links
- Scorpionidae at The Scorpion Files (The system follows the revision of Fet and Soleglad, December 2005)