03 April, 2013

A fossil Tityus in amber from The Dominican Republic

Wilson Lourenco has recently published another species from specimens discovered in amber. This time a new species of Tityus C. L. Koch, 1836 (Buthidae) had been described in amber from The Dominican Republic. This is an extinct species and is not added to the species list in The Scorpion Files.

Tityus azari Lourenco, 2013
 
Abstract:
Tityus azari sp. n., a new species of fossil scorpion belonging to the genus Tityus C. L. Koch, 1836 is described based on a specimen in amber from the Dominican Republic. Although the new species can be associated with the extant fauna of the Neotropical region, it presents some particular morphological features such as the presence of sharp denticles on the edge of pedipalp fingers. Due to the incompleteness of the specimen it cannot be assigned to any precise extant subgenera. Once again, this discovery attests to a considerable degree of diversity in the Dominican amber-producing forests.

Reference:
Lourenco WR. A new species of Tityus C. L. Koch, 1836 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Dominican amber. Euscorpius. 2013 (156):1-5. [Free full text]

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