Odontobuthus tirgari sp. nov. (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from the eastern region of the Iranian Plateau .

A new species of scorpions in the genus Odontobuthus (Scorpiones, Buthidae) is described from Khorasan Province, Iran. Currently, Odontobuthus includes two species in Iran, Odontobuthus doriae Thorell, 1876, which is restricted to high elevations of the central Iranian Plateau and Odontobuthus bidentatus Lourenço & Pezier, 2002 from the Zagros Mountains. The results of morphological comparisons, univariate and multivariate statistical analyses and phylogenetic analysis of COI sequence data clearly confirm a deep split between populations from the eastern Iranian Plateau and O. bidentatus Lourenço & Pezier, 2002 and O. doriae Thorell, 1876. Therefore, according to comparative morphological and molecular analyses, a new species, Odontobuthus tigari sp. nov. (♀♂) was described from eastern Iran. This addition represents the third species of this genus from Iran.