Two new species of the genus Odontobuthus (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from southern and eastern Iran

Abstract

Two new species of scorpions in the genus Odontobuthus (Scorpiones, Buthidae) are described from Khorasan Province in the east and Hormozgan Province in the south of Iran. Currently, Odontobuthus includes two species in Iran, O. doriae Thorell, which is restricted to high elevations of the central Iranian Plateau and O. bidentatus Lourenço & Pezier from the Zagros Mountains. The results of morphological comparisons, univariate and multivariate statistical analysis and phylogenetic analysis of COI sequence data clearly confirm a deep split between populations from the eastern Iranian Plateau and O. bidentatus Lourenço & Pezier and O. doriae Thorell. According to comparative morphological and molecular analysis, two new species, O. tirgari Mirshamsi and O. tavighiae Navidpour, Soleglad, Fet & Kovařík were described from Iran.