Wildlife
Scorpions were among the first animals to adapt to life on land 420 million years ago. They are the oldest arachnids for which fossils are known. Scorpions are particularly recognisable by their spectacularly large, powerful pincers, which are enlarged appendages used to grasp and subdue prey. The famous stinging tail contains a pair of poison glands and is used to paralyse prey. Hated and admired since ancient times, they still strike fear into people though few are deadly. Around 2,000 species have been described in 13 families with species found on every continent except Antarctica, and not just under rocks in the desert!
Scientific name: Scorpiones
Rank: Order
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Snare of silk
A black widow spider catches a desert scorpion in her web.
A black widow spider catches a desert scorpion in her web.
Coal forest land grab
Metre-long scorpions competed with our backboned ancestors to rule the land.
Metre-long scorpions competed with our backboned ancestors to rule the land. This programme was first shown in 1997.
Scorpion city
How many scorpions can Steve Backshall find in two minutes?
How many scorpions can Steve Backshall find in two minutes?
The Scorpions can be found in a number of locations including: Africa, Amazon Rainforest, Asia, Australia, China, Europe, Indian subcontinent, Madagascar, Mediterranean, North America, Russia, South America. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Discover the other animals and plants that lived during the following geological time periods.
Learn more about the other animals and plants that also form these fossils.
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger. Scorpions range in size from 9 mm (Typhlochactas mitchelli) to 21 cm (Hadogenes troglodytes).
Scorpions are found widely distributed over all continents, except Antarctica, in a variety of terrestrial habitats except the high latitude tundra. Scorpions number about 1,752 described species, with 13 extant families recognised to date. The taxonomy has undergone changes and is likely to change further, as a number of genetic studies are bringing forth new information.
The scorpion has a fearsome reputation as venomous, and about 25 species are known to have venom capable of killing a human being.
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Predation defence
Burrower
Maternal care
Moulting
Nocturnal
Predator
Adapted to running
Venomous
Viviparous
Silurian period
Devonian period
Carboniferous period
Permian period
Triassic period
Jurassic period
Cretaceous period
Palaeocene epoch
Eocene epoch
Oligocene epoch
Miocene epoch
Pliocene epoch
Pleistocene epoch
Holocene epoch
