Tityus exstinctus Lourenço, 1995: described from
a single adult male, collected in 1884 in Martinique.
Lourenço (1995: 29–31) stated that its closest
relative was Tityus trinitatis Pocock, 1897 (an
endemic species from Trinidad & Tobago), but this
association is clearly wrong in view of the deep
differences shown by both species in almost all
taxonomically important characters (i.e., T. trinitatis
is a member of the “androcottoides” species-group
which is characterized by the partial to complete
fusion of the ventrosubmedian carinae of the
metasoma, but in T. exstinctus these carinae are not
fused, which is the condition present in all other
species-groups of the genus); ironically, this in- congruence was even illustrated and mentioned on
the same paper (Lourenço, 1995: 29–31; figs. 8–9). The original description and figures of Lourenço
(1995) clearly demonstrate that its closest relatives
are in fact T. pictus and T. smithii, as T. exstinctus
matches both species perfectly in three key
characters (pedipalp movable finger with 14 principal
rows of granules, pectines with 22 teeth, and
telson with subaculear tubercle minute and aculeus
shorter than vesicle), apart from coloration (yellowish
brown with a pattern of dark spots, pedipalp
fingers, metasomal segments IV–V and telson
darker) and general shape of the pedipalps and metasoma.
Teruel: Redescriptions of Tityus pictus & T. smithii
www.science.marshall.edu/fet/euscorpius/p2011_125.pdf
