Genetic diversity within Leiurus quinquestriatus populations in Egypt

 Leiurus quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1828) (Buthidae) is one of the most dangerous scorpions in the world when it comes to venom potency and knowledge about the taxonomy and biology of this species is very important.

Moustafa Sarhan and co-workers have recently published a study on the genetic diversity within Leiurus quinquestriatus populations in Egypt. This species is quite common in this country. The results shows a high genetic variation among L. quinquestriatus populations in Egypt and suggest that at least one population located in Sinai may be a separate species.

Abstract:
The highly toxic and medically important scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus is the most common scorpion species in Egypt and in some regions, is medically problematic for the local population. We studied variation in the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene within 12 populations from different ecogeographical regions of Egypt. Our results indicate a high genetic variation among L. quinquestriatus populations with five haplotypes existing. Our data also suggests the existence of

Reference:
Sarhan M, Badry A, Younes M, Saleh M. Genetic diversity within Leiurus quinquestriatus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) populations in Egypt as inferred from 16S mDNA sequence analysis. Zoology in the Middle East. 2020;66(3):269-76. [Subscription required for full text]

Thanks to Dr. Ahmed Badry for sending me this article!

Family Buthidae