A new Odontobuthus from Oman

Graeme Lowe has recently published a description of a new species in the genus Odontobuthus (Buthidae) from Oman. The paper also has an identification key for the genus. The species is distributed in Oman and United Arab Emirates.

Abstract:
The Asian buthid genus Odontobuthus is newly recorded from the Arabian Peninsula where is represented by O. brevidigitus sp. nov. from the Batínah coast and foothills of the Al Hajar mountains of northern Oman. The new species is characterized by short pedipalp fingers, long pectines with narrow basal middle lamella, 2–3 enlarged denticles on ventrosubmedian carinae of metasoma II–III, stout metasoma IV with 10 anterior transverse granules, 3 lateral anal lobes, and enlarged dentition on the ventral anal arch. A model is proposed for the speciation of Odontobuthus by westward dispersal of an ancestral population on the Indus floodplain, followed by vicariant tectonic events in the Miocene and Pliocene that led to divergence of four species in temporal sequence: O. odonturus, O. doriae, O. bidentatus and O. brevidigitus sp. nov.

Reference:
Lowe G. A new species of Odontobuthus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from northern Oman. Euscorpius. 2010(96):1-22. [Free fulltext]

Family Buthidae