Browsing by Author "Tahir, H. Muhammad (Hafiz Muhammad), 1980-"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item First reports of Razianus (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from Iraq and Pakistan, descriptions of two new species, and redescription of Razianus zarudnyi. (American Museum novitates, no. 3806)(American Museum of Natural History., 2014-06-24) Tahir, H. Muhammad (Hafiz Muhammad), 1980-; Navidpour, Shahrokh.; Prendini, Lorenzo.The scorpion fauna of Pakistan, like that of the rest of the Indian subcontinent, is poorly known and many new species may await discovery. We describe two new species of the buthid genus Razianus Farzanpay, 1987, i.e., Razianus birulai, sp. nov., and Razianus farzanpayi, sp. nov., the first records of this genus from Pakistan, raising the number of species in the genus to four and extending its distribution southeast. In addition, we redescribe the type species, Razianus zarudnyi (Birula, 1903), report the first record from Iraq, extending the distribution of Razianus further west, plot the known locality records of the three species occurring in Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan, and provide a key to their identification.Item Redescription of Heterometrus latimanus and confirmation of the genus Heterometrus (Scorpiones, Scorpionidae) in Pakistan. (American Museum novitates, ; no. 3805)(American Museum of Natural History., 2014-06-24) Tahir, H. Muhammad (Hafiz Muhammad), 1980-; Prendini, Lorenzo.Scorpions of the genus Heterometrus Ehrenberg, 1828, are distributed from India and Sri Lanka throughout the Southeast Asian mainland and archipelagos as far as Wallace's Line. Despite this widespread distribution, Heterometrus was not recorded from Pakistan until a single specimen from Azad Kashmir was reported from the collection of the Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Islamabad. Perhaps because the specimen was misidentified as Heterometrus wroughtoni (Pocock, 1899), a species that occurs much farther to the southeast in India, the presence of Heterometrus in Pakistan remained uncertain until fresh material of a distinctive species of Heterometrus was recently collected at several locations in Khyber Pakhtoon Khawa. After comparison of the material with the holotype and only known specimen of a little-known species, Heterometrus latimanus (Pocock, 1894), with an indefinite type locality in "India," the Pakistani material was determined to be conspecific. In the present contribution, H. latimanus is redescribed based on adult males and females from several localities, and the specimen from Azad Kashmir tentatively assigned to it, confirming the presence of Heterometrus in Pakistan. The new locality records extend the distribution of the genus considerably to the northwest, and west of the Indus River for the first time. The known records of H. latimanus appear to be isolated from other Heterometrus occurring on the Indian subcontinent by the Great Indian (Thar) Desert, an arid, sandy basin extending from eastern Pakistan to northwestern India.