A remarkable scorpion fossil from the amber of Lebanon. Implications for the phylogeny of Buthoidea

A specimen belonging to a new family, genus and species of fossil scorpion, Archaeobuthidae fam. n., Archaeohuthus estephani gen. n., sp. n., is descr ibed from the Early Cretaceous amber of Lebanon. This is the first scorpion to have been found and described from Lebanese amber (+/- 125 Myr). In vie w of the fact that Lebanese amber is the oldest known amber containing a hi gh diversity of biological inclusions, it is highly unlikely that an older scorpion specimen in amber will ever be found. (C) 2001 Academie des scienc es / Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.