The genus Orobothriurus in central Argentina and a descrption of a new species

Orobothriurus Maury, 1975 (Bothriuridae) is an interesting genus where most species occur at high altitudes above 2500 m in South America. Most high altitude species are found in the Andes mountain range, but species have also been found in other locations.

Andres Ojanguren Affilastro and co-workers have now published a study on Orobothriurus in Argentina with a description of a new species:

Orobothriurus grismadoi Ojanguren Affilastro, Campon, Silnik & Mattoni, 2009 (Bothriuridae)

In the same paper, Orobothriurus bivittatus (Thorell, 1877) is synonymised with O. alticola (Pocock, 1899).

Abstract:
New data on the scorpion genus Orobothriurus Maury 1976 in central Argentina are provided. Orobothriurus grismadoi n.sp. is described; this species occurs in high altitudes in El Nevado mountain chain, an isolated orographic system in Southern Mendoza, Argentina, separated by almost 200 km from the Andes Mountain chain. This species is closely related to Orobothriurus alticola (Pocock, 1899). This is the southernmost record for the genus about 300 km south from previous records. Orobothriurus bivittatus (Thorell, 1877) is synonymised with O. alticola based on material recently collected in El Tontal mountain chain. We also provide new data about the distribution and intraspecific variability of O. alticola.

Reference:
Ojanguren-Affilastro AA, Campon FF, Silnik SL, Mattoni CI. The genus Orobothriurus Maury in central Argentina with description of a new species from El Nevado mountain chain in Mendoza Province (Scorpiones: Bothriuridae). Zootaxa. 2009; (2209):28-42. [Subscription required for fulltext]

Family Bothriuridae