Abu Afifeh B.1, Al-Saraireh M.2, Abu Baker M.3, Amr Z.4, Lourenço W.R.5 2022. The genus Buthacus Birula, 1908 in Jordan: description of a new species and comments on possible micro-endemic populations (Scorpiones: Buthidae) // Arthropoda Selecta. Vol.31. No.1: 51–62 [in English].
1 Ministry of Education, Al Rumman Secondary School, Amman, Jordan, e-mail: bassam_abu_afifeh@yahoo.com
2 Oncology Department, Royal Medical Services, Amman, Jordan, e-mail: abohashem99m@gmail.com
3 Department of Biology, the University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan, e-mail: Ma.Abubaker@ju.edu.jo
4 Department of Biology, Jordan University of Science & Technology, Irbid, Jordan, e-mail: amrz@just.edu.jo
5 Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), UMR7205-CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, CP 53, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France, e-mail: wilson.lourenco@mnhn.fr
doi: 10.15298/arthsel. 31.1.06
ABSTRACT. The genus Buthacus Birula, 1908 (family Buthidae) has been the subject of an impressive number of studies in the past 25 years. Most of the species considered in these studies come from North Africa, in particular from countries such as Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania. Nevertheless, species were also described from the near and far Middle East. In this contribution we start the study of all the Buthacus populations present in Jordan which will be based on a precise survey of different biotopes in the country. A new species is described from the desert areas of Al-Qattafi. This preliminary study, which will be followed by others, seems to suggest the presence of micro-endemic populations in limited geographical zones of the desert.
KEY WORDS: Scorpion, Buthacus, new species, micro-endemic populations, Jordan, Al-Qattafi region.