The Role of the Southeastern European Mountains as Cradles and Corridors of European Biodiversity: Insights From Agelenid Spiders

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  The Role of the Southeastern European Mountains as Cradles and Corridors of European Biodiversity: Insights From Agelenid Spiders ABSTRACT Aim The Southeastern European Mountain System (SEEMS) is a well-known glacial refugium for European fauna. Bridging the Mediterranean and Caucasus biodiversity hotspots, it is a melting point for diverse faunal elements, but also a center of origin and subsequent dispersal of a unique component of European biodiversity. Here, we tested the hypothesis of the Southeastern European origin of the agelenid spider genera Inermocoelotes and Urocoras by investigating their phylogeny and biogeography. Location Southeastern Europe (the Balkans, Carpathians, Dinarides), Central/Western Europe, and the Mediterranean basin. Taxon Funnel-web spiders, the genera Inermocoelotes and Urocoras (Araneae: Agelenidae: Coelotinae). Methods We performed molecular phylogenetic analyses, divergence time estimation, and ancestral area reconstruction. To investigate ...

Three more cases of tergite malformation in two buthid scorpion species revealed from citizen science data (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

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Three more cases of tergite malformation in two buthid scorpion species revealed from citizen science data (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

Abstract 
Three cases of tergite malformation are described: two in Parabuthus raudus (Simon, 1888) from Botswana and one in Lychas sp. from Australia. One adult female P. raudus had tergite IV almost split into two parts, an anomaly that also affected tergites II–III. In another female P. raudus, a longitudinal depression presented across tergites I–IV. In Lychas sp., tergites I–II are strongly constricted transversely, exposing the adjacent pleural membrane dorsally.

Sherwood, Danniella & Tang, Victoria. (2025). Three more cases of tergite malformation in two buthid scorpion species revealed from citizen science data (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología. 46. 135-137.