Microcharmidae Lourenço, 1996

Soleglad, Michael E. & Fet, Victor, 2003, High-level systematics and phylogeny of the extant scorpions (Scorpiones: Orthosterni), Euscorpius 2003 (11), pp. 1-175 : 91

Family Microcharmidae Lourenço, 1996

Type Genus. Microcharmus Lourenço, 1995 .

Composition. The family includes two genera, Microcharmus and Neoprotobuthus (Fet, 2000d) .

Distribution. Madagascar.

Taxonomic history. This family was first introduced as a monotypic subfamily of Buthidae (Lourenço, 1996a), and later elevated to the family rank (Lourenço, 1998a), with only a preliminary justification. Lourenço (1998b) also included in Microcharmidae the subfamily Akentrobuthinae (with a single African genus, Akentrobuthus ) (Fet, 2000d). Later, however, Lourenço (2000b) transferred Akentrobuthus back to Buthidae . Since subfamilies in Buthidae are currently not defined, the status of Akentrobuthinae remains undetermined. An additional genus, Neoprotobuthus , was described in Microcharmidae by Lourenço (2002b).

Biogeographic history. Lourenço (1996a) discussed in detail scorpion taxa endemic to Madagascar, which

generally are related to the African fauna and diverged with the split of Gondwanaland.

Diagnosis. A diagnosis cannot be provided as justifying a separate family. Microcharmidae were defined as a subfamily of Buthidae by Lourenço (1996a: 27), and further as a family (Lourenço, 1998a: 845–847), but the given features are not diagnostic even at subfamily level.

Discussion. Lourenço (1996b, 1996d) suggested that the genus Microcharmus is closely related to the Indian genus Charmus ( Buthidae ), which would correspond to the Gondwanaland origin of the group but violates the monophyly of Buthidae . The relationship between Microcharmidae and Buthidae is also unclear since there was no combined phylogenetic analysis of these families.

R. Teruel (pers. comm., 1999; Fet, 2000d: 421) noticed that Akentrobuthinae Lamoral, 1976 had a priority over Microcharmidae Lourenço, 1996 ; therefore when Lourenço (1998b) decided to include Akentrobuthinae in Microcharmidae , the combined family name should have been changed to Akentrobuthidae. However, since Akentrobuthinae was transferred back to Buthidae by Lourenço (2000b), no such change is required.