Fattailed Scorpion

• Its scientific name literally means man-killer.
• It withstands doses of radiation that would be lethal to a mammal, a tolerance documented in several desert scorpions.
• Its toxins are studied intensively as a pharmacological tool: some block particular ion channels with a precision that is hard to achieve with synthetic molecules.
• It is probably the scorpion that causes the most deaths in the world. This one species is responsible for around 80% of scorpion stings and 90% of scorpion deaths in North Africa.
• Its genus name, Androctonus, literally means man-killer.
• Its venom combines neurotoxins, cardiotoxins and myotoxins, and death usually comes from cardiac or respiratory failure. A single individual can inject up to 500 micrograms.
• The thick tail that gives it its name is not a venom store: it is muscle, and its function is to drive the sting in hard and fast. As a practical rule, in scorpions dangerousness correlates with small pincers and a thick tail, not the other way round.
• Its exoskeleton withstands sandstorms. Instead of burying itself as other scorpions do, it rides out the gale: the microstructure of its cuticle withstands abrasion capable of stripping paint from steel, and it has been studied in anti-erosion surface engineering.
• Like all scorpions, it fluoresces under ultraviolet light with a blue-green tone, which makes it possible to locate them at night with a UV torch.
• Despite how dangerous it is, it is one of the most frequent species in the exotic pet trade.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - chitin exoskeleton (arachnid)

Habitat & environment

Sandy and stony deserts of North Africa and the Middle East

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androctonus_australis