Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part XII. Pandinurus hangarale sp. n. (Scorpionidae) from Somaliland and a review of type locality and true distribution of Pandinurus smithi (Pocock, 1897)

Abstract

EDITOR: Victor Fet, Marshall University, 'fet@marshall.edu' ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Michael E. Soleglad, 'soleglad@znet.com' Euscorpius is the first research publication completely devoted to scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Euscorpius takes advantage of the rapidly evolving medium of quick online publication, at the same time maintaining high research standards for the burgeoning field of scorpion science (scorpiology). Euscorpius is an expedient and viable medium for the publication of serious papers in scorpiology, including (but not limited to): systematics, evolution, ecology, biogeography, and general biology of scorpions. Review papers, descriptions of new taxa, faunistic surveys, lists of museum collections, and book reviews are welcome. Derivatio NominisThe name Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 refers to the most common genus of scorpions in the Mediterranean region and southern Europe (family Euscorpiidae). ICZN COMPLIANCE OF ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS:Electronic ("e-only") publications are fully compliant with ICZN (International Code of Zoological Nomenclature) (i.e. for the purposes of new names and new nomenclatural acts) when properly archived and registered. All Euscorpius issues starting from No. 156 (2013) are archived in two electronic archives: • Biotaxa, http://biotaxa.org/Euscorpius (ICZN-approved and ZooBank-enabled) • Marshall Digital Scholar, http://mds.marshall.edu/euscorpius/. (This website also archives all Euscorpius issues previously published on CD-ROMs.) Between 2000 and 2013, ICZN did not accept online texts as "published work" (Article 9.8). At this time, Euscorpius was produced in two identical versions: online (ISSN 1536-9307) and CD-ROM (ISSN 1536-9293) (laser disk) in archive-quality, read-only format. Both versions had the identical date of publication, as well as identical page and figure numbers. Only copies distributed on a CD-ROM from Euscorpius in 2001-2012 represent published work in compliance with the ICZN, i.e. for the purposes of new names and new nomenclatural acts. In September 2012, ICZN Article 8. What constitutes published work, has been amended and allowed for electronic publications, disallowing publication on optical discs. From January 2013, Euscorpius discontinued CD-ROM production; only online electronic version (ISSN 1536-9307) is published. For further details on the new ICZN amendment, see SummaryPandinurus hangarale sp. n. from Somaliland is described and fully complemented with color photos of live and preserved specimens, as well as its habitat. Hemispermatophore of P. hangarale sp. n. is illustrated and described. In addition to the analyses of external morphology and hemispermatophores, we also describe the karyotype of P. hangarale sp. n. (2n=120). Known localities of Pandinurus smithi (Pocock, 1897) are compiled; the type locality is not in Somaliland but in Ethiopia (Turfa) and in reality it is probably an endemic of Ethiopia.

Systematic Revision of the Asian Forest Scorpions (Heterometrinae Simon, 1879), Revised Suprageneric Classification of Scorpionidae Latreille, 1802, and Revalidation of Rugodentidae Bastawade et al., 2005

“…INCLUDED TAXA: As redefined in the present contribution, Pandininae includes 44 species in seven genera (Prendini, 2001a(Prendini, , 2016Kovarik et al, , 2017cKovarik et al, , 2019b: Pandiborellius Rossi, 2015;Pandinoides Fet, 1997;Pandinops three points for P viatoris south of the Zambezi River, one in the extreme north of Zimbabwe (presumably, the specimen erroneously labelled "Mashonaland" [ZMB 35310]) and two in Mozambique, corresponding to the approximate locations of Tete and Beira, where this species does not appear to occur based on surveys by the first author, Rossi (201L5a: 20,21,29) discussed the reliability of Kovarik's (2012) Zimbabwean record, but apparently missed the point about the Zambezi River, as he did not mention the other two localities, and went on to describe Pandinurus (P.) prendinii Rossi, 2015, from a single female, allegedly from Messina in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Prendini (2016: 57) synonymized P prendinii with Pandinurus (P) sudanicus (Hirst, 1911) on the grounds that the meristic data listed as diagnostic for P prendinii fall entirely within the ranges given for P sudanicus.…”

Scorpion Species with Smaller Body Sizes and Narrower Chelae Have the Highest Venom Potency

“…While phylogenetic comparative methods are a relatively recent approach to understanding venom variation [ 26 ], studies measuring venom potencies have a rich history, with numerous standardized measures of potencies, such as LD 50 , available across species spanning the scorpion phylogeny. Here, we use this rich history to collate LD 50 potency values [ 20 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ] and morphology measures [ 14 , 19 , 35 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 ,…”