''Tityus apozonalli'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Buthidae The Buthidae are the largest family of scorpions, containing about 100 genera and 1339 species as of 2022. A few very large genera (''Ananteris'', ''Centruroides'', '' Compsobuthus'', or '' Tityus'') are known, but a high number of species-poor o ...

known from a fossil found in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The species is one of two scorpions described from

Mexican amber Mexican amber, also known as Chiapas Amber is amber found in Mexico, created during the Early Miocene and middle Miocene epochs of the Cenozoic Era in southwestern North America. As with other ambers, a wide variety of taxa have been found as inc ...

and one of seven species from Central American amber deposits.

History and classification

''Tityus apozonalli'' was described from a solitary fossil, which is preserved as an

inclusion Inclusion or Include may refer to: Sociology * Social inclusion, aims to create an environment that supports equal opportunity for individuals and groups that form a society. ** Inclusion (disability rights), promotion of people with disabiliti ...

in a transparent chunk of Mexican amber. At the time of description, the amber specimen was housed in the fossil collection of the Museo del Ámbar de Chiapas in

San Cristóbal de las Casas San Cristóbal de las Casas (), also known by its native Tzotzil name, Jovel (), is a town and municipality located in the Central Highlands region of the Mexican state of Chiapas. It was the capital of the state until 1892, and is still consid ...

Simojovel Simojovel is one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 40,297, up from 31,615 as of 2005. It covers an area of 446.99 km2. The municipality had 145 localities, the ...

. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

fossil is composed of a very complete adult male recovered from the Guadalupe Victoria site. Mexican amber is recovered from fossil bearing rocks in the

region of

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

, Mexico. The amber dates from between 23 million years old at the oldest and 15 million years at the youngest. The Guadalupe Victoria site is an outcrop of amber bearing strata belonging to the

Mazantic Shale The Mazantic Shale is a geologic formation in Chiapas, Mexico. It was deposited during the Early Miocene ( Aquitanian). The formation comprises dark gray shales that were deposited in a marine environment. It preserves fossils, such as the turtl ...

and

Balumtum Sandstone The Balumtun Sandstone is a geologic formation in Chiapas, Mexico. The formation is up to 760 metres thick, and consists of gray sandstone, that were deposited during the Upper Aquitanian stage of the Early Miocene. See also * List of fossilif ...

. The deposits preserve a transitional river or stream environments near the coast and preserves fossils of a

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...

ecosystem. The holotype was first studied by a team of researchers headed by Francisco Riquelme of the

Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos The Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (Autonomous University of the State of Morelos, UAEM) is a university in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. It is the largest institution of higher education in Morelos, with facilities statewide. Histo ...

with their 2015

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

of the species being published in the

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

journal '' PLoS ONE''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''apozonalli'' was derived from the

Náhuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

word "apozonalli", coined by the Aztecs for amber, and translating as sea bubble or foam. ''T. apozonalli'' is one of two ''Tityus'' species described from Mexican amber, the other being '' Tityus knodeli''. Three other species have been described from the similarly aged

Dominican amber Dominican amber is amber from the Dominican Republic derived from resin of the extinct tree ''Hymenaea protera''. Dominican amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber by being nearly always transparent, and it has a higher number of fossil incl ...

Tityus azari Tityus may refer to: * A giant from Greek mythology (see Tityos Tityos or Tityus (Ancient Greek: Τιτυός) was a giant from Greek mythology. Family Tityos was the son of Elara; his father was Zeus. He had a daughter named Europa who coup ...

'', ''

Tityus geratus Tityus may refer to: * A giant from Greek mythology (see Tityos Tityos or Tityus (Ancient Greek: Τιτυός) was a giant from Greek mythology. Family Tityos was the son of Elara; his father was Zeus. He had a daughter named Europa who coup ...

'' and ''

Tityus hartkorni Tityus may refer to: * A giant from Greek mythology (see Tityos Tityos or Tityus (Ancient Greek: Τιτυός) was a giant from Greek mythology. Family Tityos was the son of Elara; his father was Zeus. He had a daughter named Europa who coup ...

''.

Description

The ''T. apozonalli'' is a reddish-brown in overall coloration with the manus pedipalps, and legs a pale yellowish tone. The total body length is and a

metasoma The metasoma is the posterior part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the mesosoma. In insects, it contains most of the digestive tract, respiratory system, and circula ...

. There are several eyes on the ocular node, with two smaller

ocelli A simple eye (sometimes called a pigment pit) refers to a form of eye or an optical arrangement composed of a single lens and without an elaborate retina such as occurs in most vertebrates. In this sense "simple eye" is distinct from a multi-l ...

placed to the sides of the median node. On the

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or similarly ...

there are rows of dentition which line up on each side of the jaws and scattered macrosetae on the lower back edges. The enlarged

pedipalp Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") and ...

s have raised ridges along the femur, patella, and the

chelae A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer (biology), pincer-like organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through New Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are ...

. There are

trichobothria Trichobothria (singular trichobothrium) are elongate setae ("hairs") present in arachnids, various orders of insects, and myriapods that function in the detection of airborne vibrations and currents, and electrical charge. In 1883, Friedrich Dahl ...

present but the exact configuration is hard to determine due to the preservation. Both the fixed and mobile sides of the chela have rows of teeth with a slightly darkened coloration. The underside of the mesosoma clearly shows the paired pecten combs each with twenty-nine teeth. At the rear of the mesosoma the male genitalia are only faintly visible in the subtriangular genital operculum. The

telson The telson () is the posterior-most division of the body of an arthropod. Depending on the definition, the telson is either considered to be the final segment of the arthropod body, or an additional division that is not a true segment on accou ...

has both a large Aculeus and a smaller subaculear tubercle.

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q21509369 † Fossil taxa described in 2015 Scorpions of North America Cenozoic arachnids Miocene arthropods Mexican amber Miocene animals of North America