Euscorpiidae Laurie, 1896

Soleglad, Michael E. & Fet, Victor, 2003, High-level systematics and phylogeny of the extant scorpions (Scorpiones: Orthosterni), Euscorpius 2003 (11), pp. 1-175 : 105

Family Euscorpiidae Laurie, 1896

Type Genus. Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 .

Synonyms.

Scorpiopidae Kraepelin, 1905 (valid as subfamily name).

Composition. The family includes three subfamilies ( Euscorpiinae , Megacorminae , Scorpiopinae ) and 11 genera (Soleglad & Sissom, 2001).

Distribution. Europe, Asia, Africa (Mediterranean Sea coast), North America, South America.

Taxonomic history. This taxon was originally introduced as a subfamily of Chactidae . It was formally elevated to the family level by Stockwell (1992), and listed as a family in Fet & Sissom (2000a). Recently, Soleglad & Sissom (2001) conducted a detailed phylogenetic analysis of Euscorpiidae , and introduced a number of sweeping taxonomic changes. They included in Euscorpiidae the former family Scorpiopidae , transferred the genus Chactopsis from Chactidae , and introduced subfamilies and tribes. Soleglad & Sissom (2001) demonstrated the relationship of euscorpiid subfamilies as ( Euscorpiinae , ( Megacorminae , Scorpiopinae )).

Biogeographic history. The euscorpiids cover a remarkable disjunct range, which includes Europe and West Asia ( Euscorpiinae ), South and Southeast Asia ( Scorpiopini ), South America ( Chactopsini ), and North America ( Troglocormini , Megacorminae ). Such a disjunction could indicate an ancient (Mesozoic?) age of Euscorpiidae , and could be explained by its Laurasian origin and subsequent differential extinction ( Nenilin & Fet, 1992), with migration of Chactopsini to South America. Absence of xeric taxa is notable in this family.

Diagnosis. See Soleglad & Sissom (2001) for details.