Inter-individual variability in equine antibody responses to African snake venoms follows heavy-tailed distributions with implications for antivenom production

  Inter-individual variability in equine antibody responses to African snake venoms follows heavy-tailed distributions with implications for antivenom production Abstract Variability in the antibody response of horses used for snake antivenom manufacture is well recognized, yet its statistical structure and implications for industrial productivity remain poorly characterized. In this study, we quantified antivenom antibody titers by ELISA in a cohort of 14 horses immunized with venoms from the clinically most important snakes in sub-Saharan Africa. To integrate antibody levels with plasma availability, we calculated the Cumulative Plasma Productivity (CPP) by converting individual plasma volumes into titer-corrected equivalents and sequentially pooling these volumes according to their corrected contribution. Distributional analysis revealed right-skewed, heavy-tailed patterns better approximated by a log-normal model than by a strict Pareto (power-law) form, with approximately 20–3...

Androctonus tinzaouatinensis a new scorpion species from In Guezzam Province, Algeria (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

 

Androctonus tinzaouatinensis a new scorpion species from In Guezzam Province, Algeria (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

ABSTRACT

A new scorpion species, Androctonus tinzaouatinensis sp. n. is described and illustrated from the hyperarid Saharan regions of the Tin Zaouatine District, In Guezzam Province and Timiaouine District, Bordj Badji Mokhtar Province, southern Algeria. This new species represents the first record of the genus Androctonus from the Timiaouine and Tin Zaouatine areas. It is compared with congeners from Algeria and Niger, notably A. ajjer Ythier, Sadine, Alioua & Lourenço, A. amoreuxi (Audouin), and A. eburneus (Pallary).

Yağmur, E. A., Benali, N., Derradj, L., & Bikada, M. (2026). Androctonus tinzaouatinensis a new scorpion species from In Guezzam Province, Algeria (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Journal of Natural History60(17–20), 1033–1047. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2026.2642870