''Euscorpius carpathicus'' is a species of

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

endemic to the

Romanian Carpathians The Romanian Carpathians () are a section of the Carpathian Mountains, within the borders of modern Romania. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of the Alps-Himalaya System and are further divided into "provinces" and "subprovinces". This is an ...

. It is the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of the genus ''

Euscorpius ''Euscorpius'' is a genus of scorpions, commonly called small wood-scorpions. It presently contains 65 species and is the type genus of the family (biology), family Euscorpiidae – long included in the ChactidaeRein (2008a) – and the subfamily ...

''.

Taxonomy

Numerous species were previously identified as part of the ''Escorpius carpathicus'' species complex and were later clarified to a number of distinct species, including '' Euscorpius tergestinus'' and '' Euscorpius sicanus''. However mitochondrial DNA-based

phylogenetics In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

identified these as separate species in 2003. Since then, ''Euscorpius carpathicus'' has been identified as an endemic species of Romania with a substantially more limited range.

Distribution

The range of ''Euscorpius carpathicus'' is limited to the Carpathians and further fragmented into three isolated areas: the western portion of the Southern Carpathians (also known as the Banat Mountains), the

Olt River The Olt ( Romanian and Hungarian; ; or ', , ''Alytos'') is a river in Romania. It is long, and its basin area is . It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its average discharge at the mouth is . It originates in the Hă ...

gorge inside Cozia National Park, and the Buzău Mountains. It is likely that the fragmentation of these areas is due to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

. The upper altitude of its range is believed to be 450 meters. The clay

substratum Substrata, plural of substratum, may refer to: *Earth's substrata, the geologic layering of the Earth *''Hypokeimenon'', sometimes translated as ''substratum'', a concept in metaphysics *Substrata (album), a 1997 ambient music album by Biosphere * ...

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

areas of the Carpathians is believed to be important for ''Euscorpius carpathicus'' to survive the winters as it burrows into cracks and holes, as is common in other ''Euscorpius'' species. ''Euscorpius carpathicus'' is also found

overwintering Overwintering is the process by which some organisms pass through or wait out the winter season, or pass through that period of the year when "winter" conditions (cold or sub-zero temperatures, ice, snow, limited food supplies) make normal activ ...

in areas with bush cover that create warmer microclimates in river valleys.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q430796 Euscorpiidae Scorpions of Europe Fauna of Romania Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Animals described in 1767