Rumikiru, n. gen. (Scorpiones: Bothriuridae), a New Scorpion Genus from the Atacama Desert

Abstract

Rumikiru, n. gen., a new bothriurid scorpion genus from the coastal Atacama Desert, Chile, is described. This is the first scorpion genus endemic to northern Chile. It is most closely related to Pachakutej Ochoa, 2004, from the inter-Andean valleys of Peru. Orobothriurus lourencoi Ojanguren-Affilastro, 2003, is transferred to the new genus and redescribed, creating Rumikiru lourencoi (Ojanguren-Affilastro, 2003), n. comb., and a second species of the genus, Rumikiru atacama, n. sp., is described.

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

“…Thirty bothriurid taxa, including all species of Orobothriurus and Pachakutej Ochoa, 2004, were scored for 65 morphological characters and analysed with parsimony under equal and implied 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, new species, Rumikiru atacama Ojanguren Affilastro et al.…”

“… Map of western South America, plotting known records of all species of the bothriurid scorpion genera Orobothriurus Maury, 1976 (circles), Pachakutej Ochoa, 2004 (stars) and Rumikiru Ojanguren Affilastro et al. , in press (squares), topography (contour interval 1000 m) and volcanoes (triangles).…”

“…The discovery of a new species, closely related to O. lourencoi , in the Atacama Desert of Chile (Ojanguren Affilastro et al. in press), raised further questions about the phylogenetic placement of the two species.…”

“…2011), including O. lourencoi , omitted from Ochoa’s (2004) analysis; the closely related, new species; all species of Pachakutej ; and a selection of other bothriurid taxa. Results of this analysis justify the establishment of a new genus, Rumikiru Ojanguren Affilastro et al., in press, for O. lourencoi and the new species, Rumikiru atacama Ojanguren Affilastro et al., in press, and offer new insights about the phylogeny and biogeography of Orobothriurus and related genera.…”

“…The resulting topology justifies the establishment of a new genus, Rumikiru Ojanguren Affilastro et al. , in press, for O. lourencoi and a closely related, new species, Rumikiru atacama Ojanguren Affilastro et al. , in press.…”