Systematic Revision of the Genus Orobothriurus Maury, 1976 (Scorpiones: Bothriuridae), with Discussion of the Altitude Record for Scorpions

JOSE OCHOA; ANDRES ALEJANDRO OJANGUREN AFFILASTRO; CAMILO IVAN MATTONI; LORENZO PRENDINI

BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

AMER MUSEUM NATURAL HISTORY

Año: 2011 p. 1 - 90

0003-0090

The systematics of the Andean scorpion genus Orobothriurus Maury 1976 (Bothriuridae, Simon 1880) is revised. New locality records obtained during recent field expeditions, distribution maps, and a key to the identification of the fifteen known species, are provided. Six new species are described: Orobothriurus calchaqui n.sp. from northeastern Argentina; Orobothriurus compagnuccii n. sp. from the central Andes of Argentina; Orobothriurus quewerunkana n. sp. from southern Peru and Northern Chile; Orobothriurus Ramirezi n. sp. from Central Chile and Orobothriurus tamarugal n. sp. from northern Chile. The known distribution of Orobothriurus and the altitude record for scorpions are discussed. The world`s altitude record for a scorpion, previously reported as 5500 m is demonstrated to be 4910 m.