Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research

Cover caption: The cover image shows an adult specimen of Euscorpius cf. lagostae, one of the newly discovered cryptic lineages within Euscorpius hadzii species complex which is found at several localities in southern Dalmatia. The phylogenetic analyses revealed two deeply divergent lineages (E. hadzii groups 1 and 2) within E. hadzii s.l., and within the strictly Mediterranean, thermophilic, epigean E. hadzii 1 group (Eh1), two sublineages, Eh1a and Eh1b. The latter corresponds to the population of E. hadzii from Lastovo island (formerly Euscorpius carpaticus lagostae), which is in the present study elevated to species level as Euscorpius lagostae Di Caporiacco, 1950, stat. nov. The high genetic distances in…