Bothriuridae Simon, 1880

Soleglad, Michael E. & Fet, Victor, 2003, High-level systematics and phylogeny of the extant scorpions (Scorpiones: Orthosterni), Euscorpius 2003 (11), pp. 1-175 : 112

Family Bothriuridae Simon, 1880

Type Genus. Bothriurus Peters, 1861 .

Synonyms.

Telegonini Peters, 1861; type genus Telegonus C. L. Koch, 1837 (= Thestylus Simon, 1880 ), a junior homonym of Telegonus Hübner, 1816 ( Lepidoptera ).

Acanthochiroidae Karsch, 1880 (incorrect original spelling; should be Acanthochiridae); type genus Acanthochirus Peters, 1861 (= Cercophonius Peters, 1861 ).

Lisposominae Lawrence, 1928 ; type genus Lisposoma Lawrence, 1928 .

Brachistosterninae Maury, 1973; type genus Brachistosternus Pocock, 1893 .

Vachoniainae Maury, 1973 (incorrect original spelling Vachonianinae; see Fet & Braunwalder, 2000); type genus Vachonia Abalos, 1954 .

Composition. The bothriurids include 14 genera; subfamilies are not recognized. The validity of the genus Brazilobothriurus was doubted by Prendini (2003a).

Distribution. Asia, Africa, Australia, South America.

Taxonomic history. This distinct family was recognized early by scorpion systematists ( Peters, 1861); see Lowe & Fet (2000) for taxonomic history details. Position of Bothriuridae as related to other families of current parvorder Iurida was ambiguous. Most of the recent authors placed it in Scorpionoidea , and Prendini (2000) demonstrated its basal position within this superfamily. The African genus Lisposoma was described under Scorpionidae (subfamily Lisposominae ) but later transferred to Bothriuridae by Francke (1982b). The recognized number and content of subfamilies in Bothriuridae varied: Maury (1973) listed Bothriurinae, Brachistosterninae, and Vachonianinae; Stockwell (1989) listed Bothriurinae and Lisposominae ; Lowe & Fet (2000) listed Bothriurinae and Brachistosterninae. Prendini (2000), as a result of the detailed phylogenetic analysis, decided not to recognize any subfamilies. At the same time, Lourenço (2000a) reestablished the monotypic subfamily Lisposominae Lawrence, 1928 based on genus Lisposoma , and even elevated it to the family rank. Following Prendini (2000, 2003a, 2003b), we do not accept a separate family Lisposomidae (or subfamily Lisposominae ).

Biogeographic history. Bothriurids are a predominantly non-tropical South American group, also present in Australia (several species of Cercophonius ), India (one species of Cercophonius ) and South Africa ( Brandbergia and Lisposoma ). This vicariant distribution could be a result of Gondwanaland breakup (see a detailed discussion in Prendini, 2003b). It is possible that this family originated in Gondwanaland and was never present in Laurasia, as was first stated by Lamoral (1980: 443). Two South African genera ( Brandbergia and Lisposoma ) appear to be the most basal ( Prendini, 2003b). The genus Cercophonius exhibits a disjunct range between Australia (Koch, 1977; Acosta, 1990) and India (Lourenço, 1996c), which could also reflect a Gondwanaland disjunction ( Prendini, 2003b).

Diagnosis. See Prendini (2000) for details on the diagnosis of this family.