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Abstract
In this study, the first molecular phylogenetic analysis of Mesobuthus eupeus in Iran is presented based on sequence data of a ∼ 700-base-pair fragment of cytochrome C oxidase, subunit I. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. The results support monophyly of M. eupeus, but there is a clear divergence between northern and southern clades. The northern clade includes four subspecies – M. e. eupeus, M. e. philippovitschi, M. e. afghanus and M. e. thersites; whereas the southern clade is comprised of two others – M. e. phillipsi and M. e. kirmanensis. Accordingly, possible scenarios for the evolution and phylogeographic structure of M. eupeus based on the geological history of the Iranian Plateau were proposed. The observation of two distinct lineages supports the proposal that M. eupeus might be a species complex composed of species with highly similar morphological features.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Ghasem M. Kashani, Afshin Faghiri and Siavash Taravati for their help during field activities. We dedicate this paper to our friends and student colleagues, Ehsan Entezari and Mostafa Tarahomi, who also assisted in sample collection, but have since passed away because of an unfortunate accident during fieldwork. We are grateful to Shahrokh Navidpour (Razi Reference Laboratory of Scorpions), Peter Jäger (Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt) and Elise-Ann Leguin (Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris) for the loan of specimens. We are grateful to Lorenzo Prendini, Frantisek Kovařík, Victor Fet and Mansour Aliabadian for invaluable discussions during the preparation of this manuscript. Financial support was provided by the Office of Research Affairs, University of Tehran, Iran.