Californian Teens Discover Two New Scorpion Species and Are Not Planning to Stop There
Harper Forbes, Lauren Esposito, and Prakrit Jain, positioned from left to right, are collaborating to catalogue every species of scorpion found in California. They recently released a publication detailing two species never described before. Image credit: Gayle Laird / California Academy of Sciences
Scorpions are often feared and overlooked, but they are essential for the balance and health of desert ecosystems, which support a surprising amount of plant and animal diversity. Cameron Barrows, an ecologist at the University of California, Riverside, points out that reducing biodiversity can limit human survival opportunities, and scorpions and other wildlife serve as indicators of the biodiversity that the desert has to offer.
The two newly discovered species of scorpions have evolved to thrive in alkaline environments, specifically in dry, salty lake basins with high pH levels. Due to their specialized adaptations, both species can only be found near the locations where citizen scientists first identified them, namely Soda Lake for P. soda and Koehn Lake for P. conclusus.
P. soda is protected by federal management because its entire habitat is within the Carrizo Plain National Monument, while P. conclusus is at risk from external threats, such as solar farms, mines, or housing development that could wipe out its severely limited range.
Scorpions are often feared and overlooked, but they are essential for the balance and health of desert ecosystems, which support a surprising amount of plant and animal diversity. Cameron Barrows, an ecologist at the University of California, Riverside, points out that reducing biodiversity can limit human survival opportunities, and scorpions and other wildlife serve as indicators of the biodiversity that the desert has to offer.
The two newly discovered species of scorpions have evolved to thrive in alkaline environments, specifically in dry, salty lake basins with high pH levels. Due to their specialized adaptations, both species can only be found near the locations where citizen scientists first identified them, namely Soda Lake for P. soda and Koehn Lake for P. conclusus.
P. soda is protected by federal management because its entire habitat is within the Carrizo Plain National Monument, while P. conclusus is at risk from external threats, such as solar farms, mines, or housing development that could wipe out its severely limited range.
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18 August 2023
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