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

Prendini, Lorenzo; Loria, Stephanie F.

doi:10.1206/0003-0090.442.1.1

Cited by 15 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 201 publications

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“…A. Chersonesometrus Couzijn, 1978. B. Deccanometrus Prendini and Loria, 2020. C. Gigantometrus Couzijn, 1978.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

“…C. Gigantometrus Couzijn, 1978. D. Sahyadrimetrus Prendini and Loria, 2020 (dark grey); Srilankametrus Couzijn, 1981 (light grey). E. Javanimetrus Couzijn, 1981.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

“…Across their broad distribution, Asian scorpionids occur in habitats differing in precipitation and vegetation cover, including tropical and subtropical rainforests, moist and dry tropical deciduous forests, tropical thorn forests, savanna and scrubland (Prendini et al, 2003; Tahir and Prendini, 2014, Prendini and Loria, 2020; Fig. 2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The systematics of Asian scorpionids has been confused throughout most of the group’s history. Since the first species, Heterometrus spinifer (Ehrenberg, 1828), was described almost two centuries ago, 85 infrageneric names have been applied to these scorpions and many changed ranks, were synonymized or revalidated multiple times (Prendini and Loria, 2020). Their supraspecific classification has been similarly eclectic with various genera and subgenera recognized over the same timeframe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Koch, 1841) was misidentified as Heterometrus ( Chersonesometrus ) granulomanus Couzijn, 1981. B. Reinterpreted according to the revised classification of Prendini and Loria (2020), with four synonyms removed: Palamnaeus phipsoni collinus Pocock, 1900 = Deccanometrus phipsoni (Pocock, 1893); Heterometrus liophysa var. madoerensis Kopstein, 1921 = Heterometrus glaucus (Thorell, 1876); H .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Burrowing into the forest: Phylogeny of the Asian forest scorpions (Scorpionidae: Heterometrinae) and the evolution of ecomorphotypes

Loria

Prendini

2020

Cladistics

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Asian forest scorpions (Scorpionidae Latreille, 1802: Heterometrinae Simon, 1879) are distributed across South and Southeast Asia. All are fossorial, constructing burrows under stones or in open ground, in habitats differing in precipitation and vegetation cover, from rainforests and tropical deciduous forests to savanna and scrubland. The systematics of these scorpions has long been confused due to bad taxonomy and the absence of a phylogenetic framework. Although the monophyly of the group was previously confirmed as part of broader phylogenetic analyses based on exemplar species, the only quantitative analysis of species‐level variation to date was based on overall similarity. This contribution presents the first species‐level phylogenetic analysis of Asian Scorpionidae, based on 186 morphological characters and 4188 aligned base‐pairs of DNA sequence data from two nuclear and three mitochondrial loci for 132 terminals including all 41 ingroup species and four outgroup species. Simultaneous analyses of the morphological and molecular datasets with parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference provided the framework for a revised classification presented elsewhere. In order to understand how adaptation following dispersal into new habitats has driven the morphological diversification of Asian forest scorpions, species were scored for 10 characters concerning morphology and burrow architecture, which contributed to an ensemble index of adaptation to habitat aridity. Species were classified into three ecomorphotypes based on the index, and ancestral state reconstruction of ecomorphotypes performed on the phylogeny. A pattern was recovered in which lineages and species occurring in different habitats on a continuum from wet (evergreen forest) to dry (savanna, scrubland) exhibited characters presumed to be adaptive and hence responsible for driving scorpion diversification.

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“…A. Chersonesometrus Couzijn, 1978. B. Deccanometrus Prendini and Loria, 2020. C. Gigantometrus Couzijn, 1978.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

“…C. Gigantometrus Couzijn, 1978. D. Sahyadrimetrus Prendini and Loria, 2020 (dark grey); Srilankametrus Couzijn, 1981 (light grey). E. Javanimetrus Couzijn, 1981.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Burrowing into the forest: Phylogeny of the Asian forest scorpions (Scorpionidae: Heterometrinae) and the evolution of ecomorphotypes

Loria

Prendini

2020

Cladistics

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Scorpion and Amblypygi Diversity of Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve

Mohapatra

2022

Faunal Ecology and Conservation of the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve

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Out of India, thrice: diversification of Asian forest scorpions reveals three colonizations of Southeast Asia

Loria

Prendini

2020

Sci Rep

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The ‘Out of India’ hypothesis is often invoked to explain patterns of distribution among Southeast Asian taxa. According to this hypothesis, Southeast Asian taxa originated in Gondwana, diverged from their Gondwanan relatives when the Indian subcontinent rifted from Gondwana in the Late Jurassic, and colonized Southeast Asia when it collided with Eurasia in the early Cenozoic. A growing body of evidence suggests these events were far more complex than previously understood, however. The first quantitative reconstruction of the biogeography of Asian forest scorpions (Scorpionidae Latreille, 1802: Heterometrinae Simon, 1879) is presented here. Divergence time estimation, ancestral range estimation, and diversification analyses are used to determine the origins, dispersal and diversification patterns of these scorpions, providing a timeline for their biogeographical history that can be summarized into four major events. (1) Heterometrinae diverged from other Scorpionidae on the African continent after the Indian subcontinent became separated in the Cretaceous. (2) Environmental stresses during the Cretaceous–Tertiary (KT) mass extinction caused range contraction, restricting one clade of Heterometrinae to refugia in southern India (the Western Ghats) and Sri Lanka (the Central Highlands). (3) Heterometrinae dispersed to Southeast Asia three times during India’s collision with Eurasia, the first dispersal event occurring as the Indian subcontinent brushed up against the western side of Sumatra, and the other two events occurring as India moved closer to Eurasia. (4) Indian Heterometrinae, confined to southern India and Sri Lanka during the KT mass extinction, recolonized the Deccan Plateau and northern India, diversifying into new, more arid habitats after environmental conditions stabilized. These hypotheses, which are congruent with the geological literature and biogeographical analyses of other taxa from South and Southeast Asia, contribute to an improved understanding of the dispersal and diversification patterns of taxa in this biodiverse and geologically complex region.

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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

Cited by 15 publications

References 201 publications

Burrowing into the forest: Phylogeny of the Asian forest scorpions (Scorpionidae: Heterometrinae) and the evolution of ecomorphotypes

Burrowing into the forest: Phylogeny of the Asian forest scorpions (Scorpionidae: Heterometrinae) and the evolution of ecomorphotypes

Scorpion and Amblypygi Diversity of Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve

Out of India, thrice: diversification of Asian forest scorpions reveals three colonizations of Southeast Asia

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