Recent advances in venom pharmacology reshaping venom-to-drug discovery

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  Recent advances in venom pharmacology reshaping venom-to-drug discovery Abstract Animal venoms represent rich sources of pharmacologically active molecules, yet their translation into clinical therapeutics has historically progressed slowly. Recent advances in AI-driven venomics, cryo-electron microscopy, and computational peptide engineering are helping to overcome long-standing barriers in venom-based drug discovery and accelerate therapeutic translation. Abd El-Aziz, T., De Waard, M., & Singh, B. (2026). Recent advances in venom pharmacology reshaping venom-to-drug discovery. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences . Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tips.2026.06.006

A reassessment of “Tityus” tenuimanus Banks, 1910, as a misidentified Leiurus sp. (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

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A reassessment of “Tityus” tenuimanus Banks, 1910, as a misidentified Leiurus sp. (Scorpiones: Buthidae)

Abstract


This study re-examines the holotype of “Tityus” tenuimanus Banks, 1910, previously synonymized with Buthus atlantis Pocock, 1889 by Lourenço & Francke (1984). Our results indicate that the specimen is a misidentified representative of Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828, as it exhibits the diagnostic characters of this genus: the central lateral and posterior median carinae of the carapace fused into a lyre-shaped configuration, and tergites I–II bearing five granular carinae (a character absent in the genus Buthus Leach, 1815). Moreover, the holotype lacks one of the most distinctive characters of the genus Tityus Koch, 1836, namely the presence of a subaculear tubercle. The holotype shares several morphological features with two species described from Egypt (especially trichobothrial configuration on the fixed finger of pedipalp), Leiurus libycus (Birula, 1908) and L. aegyptiacus Lourenço & ElHennawy, 2021, both of which are only known from immature material. The absence of adult specimens for these two species, as well as the lack of a clear assessment of their intraspecific morphological variation, leads us to consider “T.” tenuimanus as a nomen dubium for the time being, and to remove it from synonymy with B. atlantis.

Mousaid, M., Yağmur, E. A., Flores, Z., Rivera, A., Lansari, A., & Bouazza, A. 2026 . A reassessment of “Tityus” tenuimanus Banks, 1910, as a misidentified Leiurus sp. (Scorpiones: Buthidae). Euscorpius, No. 431: 1-7. https://mds.marshall.edu/euscorpius/vol2026/iss431/1/