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Abstract:
The tropical lowlands of the Choco region of western Colombia and adjacent Ecuador constitute
the wettest part of the Neotropics and perhaps of the world. The fauna of this region has been poorly
known until very recently. Progress on the study of the scorpion fauna of this region suggests an important
species diversity with noticeable rates of endemism. Four families are present: Buthidae, Chactidae,
Diplocentridae and Ischnuridae. Predominant distributional patterns show an Amazonian origin for most
of the Buthidae and Chactidae species; Centruroides gracilis representing an exception. This species of
Buthidae and Tarsoporosus kugleri anchicaya new subsspecies, the only Diplocentridae observed, have
affinities with Central America. The only species of Ischnuridae present, Opisthacanthus lepturus,
belongs to a Gondwanian group and has a complex origin. Scorpion biogeographic patterns in the Choco
region today correspond closely with the observations of PRANCE (1982), HAFFER (1982) and GENTRY
(1982), and complement previous conclusions regarding scorpion biogeography.
