Karyotype evolution and preliminary molecular assessment of genera in the family Scorpiopidae

 

I have stolen the title in this post from the latest article from Frantisek Stahlavsky and co-workers of the moelcular genetics and phylogeny of the family Scorpiopidae. As previously mentioned, I'm not very good at molecular genetics and I leave it up to you readers to checkout this paper to learn more about the details of the results.

The main findings of the article is that their results support the monophyly of the family Scorpiopidae, but most genera were recovered as para- or polyphyletic. This makes the authors questioning the utility of the morphological characteristics currently used in scorpion taxonomy for generic delimitation in this family. I guess these results are the basis for the Scorpiopidae revision published in November by Kovarik et al.

Abstract:
The scorpions represent an ancient and morphologically conserved order of arachnids. Despite that, their karyotypes may differ considerably even among closely related species. In this study, we identify the trends of the karyotype evolution in the family Scorpiopidae based on integrating cytogenetic data and multi-locus molecular phylogenetic approaches. We detected considerable variability in diploid numbers of chromosomes (from 48 to 147), 18S rRNA gene cluster positions (from terminal to pericentromeric) at the interspecific level. Moreover, we identified independent fusions, fissions and inversions in the evolution of the family Scorpiopidae, leading to a remarkable diversification of the karyotypes. The dynamic system of the karyotype changes in this group is further documented by the presence of interstitial telomeric sequences (ITS) in two species. The cytogenetic differences observed among the analyzed species highlight the potential of this type of data for species-level taxonomy in scorpion lineages with monocentric chromosomes. Additionally, the results of our phylogenetic analyses support the monophyly of the family Scorpiopidae, but rendered several genera para- or polyphyletic.

Reference:
Stahlavsky F, Kovarik F, Stockmann M, Opatova V. Karyotype evolution and preliminary molecular assessment of genera in the family Scorpiopidae (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Zoology. 2021;144:125882. [Subscription required for full text]

Thanks to Frantisek Kovarik for sending me their article!

Family Scorpiopidae