Open AccessMorphometric study and sexual dimorphism analyses in an Iranian population of Scorpio maurus (Arachnida: Scorpionidae)
Author(s) -
SoltanAlinejad Parisa,
Parsaei Saman,
Dianat Ali,
Nikbakhtazadeh Mahmood,
Azizi Kourosh
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.8211
Subject(s) - sexual dimorphism , biology , zoology , carapace , population , sexual selection , arthropod mouthparts , anatomy , demography , crustacean , sociology
Abstract Natural selection and sexual selection are cardinal factors in shaping the body of animals such as scorpions. Scorpio maurus (Scorpiones: Scorpionidae) has a worldwide distribution. Sexual dimorphism has been reported from this species in a study in Egypt. Morphometry is used to determine the sexual dimorphism between the two sexes. In the current study, scorpions were collected from six locations of the southern and northern provinces of Fars, Iran. In this study, 53 morphological characters of 15 specimens of each sex of Scorpio maurus were studied based on statistical analyses; however, dimorphism was only observed in 21 morphological characters, including chelicerae and carapace length, pedipalp characters, width of the second segment of metasoma, telson and pectin length, number of left pectin teeth, and some of the leg's segments. It means that these characters are in the control of sexual and natural selection. This study was performed for the first time on Scorpio maurus species in Iran.