Betaburmesebuthus thomasvelteni Lourenço, 2024

Lourenço, Wilson R. & Velten, Jürgen, 2024, An unusual new species of Betaburmesebuthus Lourenço, 2015 trapped in Burmite (Scorpiones: Palaeoburmesebuthidae), Faunitaxys 12 (26), pp. 1-5 : 1-2

Betaburmesebuthus thomasvelteni Lourenço sp. n.

( Fig. 1-9)

ZooBank:https://zoobank.org/ 244B0283-A7BB-477E-BF28-5DD4678B5CBA

Holotype. A juvenile, or possible pre-adult; sex uncertain, most certainly a female.

Type locality and horizon. – Myanmar ( Burma), Kachin; precise locality unknown; Lower Cretaceous.

Diagnosis. – General morphology is globally similar to that of other species of the genus Betaburmesebuthus Lourenço, 2015 . The following combination of characters can, however be used to diagnose the new species: carapace weakly granulated, almost smooth; almost as long as wide; anterior margin with a weakly to moderately marked median concavity; median eyes small and widely separated and only two lateral eyes. Tergites with one weak median carina, the lateral carinae are totally inconspicuous. Sternites weakly observed but with small semi-oval spiracles. Metasomal segments I and II with 10 carinae; III and IV with 8 carinae; dorsal carinae on segments III and IV without spinoid granules; setation on all metasomal segments weakly marked; telson elongated with a few inconspicuous ventral granules; base of aculeus slightly enlarged. Internal faces of femur and patella with a few weak spinoid granules. Fixed and movable fingers of pedipalp chela with a series of small rounded granules and a few conspicuous spinoid accessory granules. Trichobothrial pattern conforming with the extant buthid type A (Vachon, 1974): at least 4 internal, 5 dorsal and 2 external trichobothria on the femur; trichobothria d 1, d 3 and d 5 displaced in the same line; dorsal trichobothria disposed in beta (β) configuration (Vachon, 1975); 1 internal and 5 dorsal trichobothria on patella; several external trichobothria can be suggested on patella by the presence of fine setae; 4-5 dorso-external and 2 ventral on chelal hand; 6 on fixed finger. Legs and spurs not well observable.

Patronym. – The specific name honors Thomas Velten (Hofheim/ TS., Germany), the son of Jürgen Velten, in recognition to the global support of this family to the study of amber trapped scorpions.

Depository. – The type specimen is deposited in the Collection of Thomas Velten ( Hofheim /TS., Germany) .

Description

Coloration. – The scorpion is yellow; carapace and tergites yellow; metasomal segments slightly reddish-yellow; telson reddish-yellow; pedipalps reddish-yellow; legs yellow. Ventral aspect yellow.

Morphology. – Carapace as long as wide; weakly granular, almost smooth; anterior marginwith a weakly to moderately marked median concavity.Carinae inconspicuous; furrows weak. Median ocular tubercle clearly anterior to the centre of carapace; median eyes small in size and largely separated by 2.5ocular diameters. Two pairs of lateral eyes of small size. Sternum not observable. Mesosomal tergites weakly granular, with one weak median carina; lateral carinae totally inconspicuous;VIIwithfiveweaklymarked carinae. Pectines not observable. Sternites V-VII smooth, withsmall oval-round spiracles.Metasomal segment I to IV with 10-10-8-8 carinae; dorsal on III and IV with vestigial spinoidgranules;segmentVslenderwithfivecarinae;dorsalaspectof segments I to V weakly depressed; setation on all segments weakly marked. Telson with a long pear-shaped vesicle; aculeus extremely long and strongly curved at the extremity and enlarged at the middle; setation weakly marked. Cheliceral dentition only partially visible; distal teeth moderately long (Vachon, 1963). Pedipalp femur pentacarinate; patella with 6-7 carinae; internal face of femur and patella without any marked spinoid granules. Chela without carinae; all faces not granular. Fixed and movable fingers each with one series of small rounded granules and a few conspicuous spinoid accessory granules; extremity of fingers with stronger spinoid granules; setation of pedipalps almost absent. Trichobothriotaxy type A(Vachon, 1974), as for extant buthids. See diagnosis for details; dorsal trichobothria disposed in beta (β) configuration (Vachon, 1975). Legs and spurs not clearly observable.

Morphometric values (mm), holotype of Betaburmesebuthus thomasvelteni Lourenço sp. n.

– Total length (including telson) 13.08.

– Carapace length 1.47, anterior width 1.10, posterior width 1.47.

– Mesosoma : length 3.87.

– Metasomal segments

I: length 0.94, width 0.81;

II: length 1.10, depth 0.47;

III: length 1.14, depth 0.41;

IV: length 1.21, depth 0.41;

V: length 1.61, depth 0.47.

– Telson: length 1.74.

– Vesicle: depth 0.27.

– Pedipalp femur length 1.14, width 0.47;

patella length 1.34, width 0.41;

chela length 2.27, width 0.27;

movable finger length 1.74.

Relationships. – The almost square shape of the carapace seems to associate the new species with Betaburmesebuthus joergi Lourenço & Rossi, 2017 . However, the presence of only two pairs of lateral eyes in the new species, places it in a rather isolated position within the genus Betaburmesebuthus .