Orobothriurus (Scorpiones: Bothriuridae) phylogeny, Andean biogeography, and the relative importance of genitalic and somatic characters

MATTONI, C.I.; OCHOA, J.A.; OJANGUREN-AFFILASTRO, A. A.; PRENDINI, L.

ZOOLOGICA SCRIPTA

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2012 vol. 41 p. 160 - 176

0300-3256

The genus Orobothriurus Maury, 1976 (Bothriuridae Simon, 1880) displays an Andean patternof distribution, most of its species occurring at high altitudes (over 2000–2500 m to amaximum altitude record of 4910 m) from central Peru to Argentina. The recent discoveryof several new species and the uncertain phylogenetic position of Orobothriurus lourencoiOjanguren Affilastro, 2003, required a reanalysis of Orobothriurus phylogeny. Thirty bothriuridtaxa, including all species of Orobothriurus and Pachakutej Ochoa, 2004, werescored for 65 morphological characters and analysed with parsimony under equal andimplied weighting. The resulting topology justifies the establishment of a new genus,Rumikiru Ojanguren Affilastro et al., in press, for O. lourencoi and a closely related, newspecies, Rumikiru atacama Ojanguren Affilastro et al., in press. It also offers new insightsabout the phylogeny and biogeography of Orobothriurus and related genera. Charactersfrom the male genitalia (i.e. hemispermatophore), comprising approximately 26% of themorphological matrix, were found to be less homoplastic than those from somaticmorphology, contradicting suggestions that genitalia are uninformative or potentially misleading in phylogenetic studies.