Phylogeny of Parabuthus (Scorpiones, Buthidae)

Journal: Zoologica Scripta
Volume and pages: 30(1): 13‑35
Year: 2001
Published: January 1, 2001
Citation: Prendini, L. 2001. Phylogeny of Parabuthus (Scorpiones, Buthidae). Zoologica Scripta 30(1): 13‑35. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1463-6409.2001.00056.x

Abstract

A cladistic analysis of the 20 southern African species of Parabuthus Pocock, 1890 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) and five of the eight north‐eastern African and Arabian species is presented, based on 53 characters, mostly of the adult morphology. The resultant topology is largely congruent with Lamoral’s (1978) unpublished topology for 14 Namibian species. Monophyly of the genus Parabuthus is supported, but monophyly of the disjunct southern African vs. north‐eastern African and Arabian species is unsupported. The implications of the cladogram for understanding ecological specialization in Parabuthus, Afrotropical arid biogeography and Parabuthus envenomation are discussed.

Keywords and Taxa

Parabuthus
Scorpiones
phylogeny
Arachnida
Buthidae
biogeography
envenomation
Namibia
Monophyly
Cladogram
Zoology