Scorpionidae Latreille, 1802

Soleglad, Michael E. & Fet, Victor, 2003, High-level systematics and phylogeny of the extant scorpions (Scorpiones: Orthosterni), Euscorpius 2003 (11), pp. 1-175 : 113-114

Family Scorpionidae Latreille, 1802

Type Genus. Scorpio Linnaeus, 1758 .

Synonyms.

Centrurides C.L. Koch, 1837 (part); type genus Centrurus Ehrenberg, 1829 (= Heterometrus Ehrenberg, 1828 ).

Pandinoidae Thorell, 1876 (incorrect original spelling; should be Pandinidae ); type genus Pandinus Peters, 1861 .

Heterometridae Simon, 1879; type genus Heterometrus Ehrenberg, 1828 (part) (= Scorpio Linnaeus, 1758 ).

Diplocentridae Karsch, 1880 , new synonymy (valid as subfamily name).

Composition. The family includes two subfamilies, Diplocentrinae and Scorpioninae , and 12 genera. The content of Scorpionidae is changed here compared to that in Fet (2000g) and in the latest revisions ( Prendini, 2000; Prendini et al., 2003), as we add here the former Diplocentridae , which is downgraded to subfamily rank. We also reestablish the nominotypic subfamily Scorpioninae , which has the same content as the family Scorpionidae of Prendini (2000) and Prendini et al. (2003).

Distribution. Asia, Africa, North America, South America.

Taxonomic history. Scorpionidae is the earliest scorpion family name, introduced as “famille des Scorpionides ” (Latreille, 1802) at the time where order-group and family-group taxa were not yet defined. Originally, it included all known scorpions; other families were introduced first by C.L. Koch (1837). The taxonomic history of Scorpioninae is traced by Fet (2000g; as subfamily Scorpioninae ) and of Diplocentrinae , by Sissom & Fet (2000b; as family Diplocentridae ). We also provisionally include here the fossil genus Mioscorpio Kjellesvig-Waering, 1986 (Miocene of Europe). Fet et al. (2000) and Lourenço (2000a) listed this monotypic genus under family Scorpionidae , as placed by Kjellesvig-Waering (1986) who analyzed the type specimens of this fossil described as Scorpio zeuneri by Hadži (1931). Judging from the original description of Hadži, some of the features (chela, carapace, and sternum) of this species closely resemble an extant member of Scorpionidae (subfamily Scorpioninae ). Other Tertiary fossils are known for the New World Diplocentrinae (see below).

Biogeographic history. While four genera of Scorpioninae are exclusively Old World taxa ( Prendini et al., 2003), our inclusion of Diplocentrinae , with their bizarre disjunct range, gives this family almost a worldwide distribution (except Australia); Tertiary Mioscorpio is known from Europe. It is therefore possible that the common ancestor of Scorpionidae was present in Pangean times.

Diagnosis. (This diagnosis is based on derived characters for clade ( Scorpionidae + Diplocentridae ) as presented in Prendini (2000: Fig. 7)). Synapomorphies. Pedipalp patella dorsoexternal carina obsolete; leg tarsus laterodistal lobes rounded, notches at base of median dorsal lobe.