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A new species, Leiurus hadb Al-Qahtni, Al-Salem, Alqahtani & Badry, sp. nov., is described and illustrated from the Majami al-Hadb Protected Area in the Riyadh Province of Saudi Arabia. The new species is compared with species of Leiurus distributed in Saudi Arabia, especially L. arabicus Lowe, Yağmur & Kovařík, 2014. The integrated results indicate that the population found in Majami al-Hadb represents a distinct species, which is described herein. Moreover, the molecular analysis is conducted on the mitochondrial gene 16S rRNA to compare L. hadb sp. nov. with samples of L. arabicus and L. haenggii from Saudi Arabia. The analysis revealed a genetic divergence ranging from 6.0 to 12%. The combination of molecular evidence and morphological characteristics provides adequate support for recognizing the Majami al-Hadb population as a distinct species. Additionally, an identification key for the genus Leiurus found in Saudi Arabia is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reptiles are considered an important element of Saudi Arabia’s wildlife to be conserved as a priority. However, the status and distribution of the Kingdom’s reptile fauna is not well understood, thus hindering the conservation initiatives. Better understanding of the taxonomy and distribution of the Kingdom’s reptile fauna is important for implementing effective conservation measures. Here, we provide the new distribution record of Pristurus minimus (Arnold, 1977; common name, Arnold’s Gecko) from southern Saudi Arabia. The species was recorded from the Uruq Bani Ma'arid Protected Area (UBM) of southern Saudi Arabia. Four individuals were captured from different survey sites across the UBM and their species identification was confirmed through a mixture of physical and genetic examination. These results increase the number of species from the Pristurus genus to five for Saudi Arabia and improve the understanding of the Kingdom’s reptile fauna and its distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe and illustrate a new scorpion species, Androctonus tihamicus sp. nov., from the Mecca Province of southwestern Saudi Arabia. The new species is compared to the genus Androctonus Ehrenberg, 1828, which is distributed throughout the Middle East, and especially to A. australis (Linnaeus, 1758). We provide the molecular phylogeny for this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity of the scorpion fauna of the southwestern part of Saudi Arabia was examined based on a large collection covering most of four major regions. Fifteen scorpion species were collected during field expedition and identified in a light of recent revisionary systematics. Family Buthidae was represented by twelve species in nine genera (Androctonus, Buthacus, Compsobuthus, Hottentotta, Leiurus, Orthochirus, Parabuthus, Trypanothacus and Vachoniolus) and family Scorpionidae by three species in two genera (Nebo and Scorpio). Buthacus yotvatensis is recorded for the first time in Saudi Arabia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tathleeth governorate in Aseer region of southwestern Saudi Arabia has been surveyed for 22 lizard species belonging to 6 families throughout three years started from 2015. A total of 412 specimens of these lizards were encountered and identified. Gekkonidae represented the major family inhabiting the region comprising more than 50% of the collected lizards. Agamidae was represented by 5 species comprising more than 23% of the recorded lizards. The other four families (Lacertidae, Scincidae, Chamaeleonidae and Varanidae) comprised approximately 20% of all the collected lizards. The current survey could be used as conservational clue for the herpetofauna of Tathleeth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was carried out in Tathleeth governorate at Aseer region of southwestern Saudi Arabia which is considered the largest district in the region. It lies between 18o 42' - 20o 00' N and 34o 20' - 44o 30' E. The major habitats of the study area were ecologically described and their snake fauna were surveyed in spring 2015 to summer 2017. The present survey contained a checklist of 92 specimens belonging to 12 species and 6 families. These species were Psammophis schokari, Rhagerhis moilensis, Spalerosophis diadema cliffordi, Platyceps rhodorachis rhodorachis (Colubridae), Cerastes gasperettii, Echis coloratus, Bitis arietanus arietanus (Viperidae), Naja haje arabica, Walterinnesia aegyptia (Elapidae), Eryx jayakari (Boidae), Atractaspis engaddensis (Atractaspididae), and Leptotyphlops macrorhynchus (Leptotyphlopidae). Regarding species richness, Colubridae were represented by 42.8% followed by Viperidae 27.2%, Elapidae (7.7%). Boidae (12%), Atractaspididae (8%) and Leptotyphlopidae (2.2%) and were represented by 3 species with 12 samples in total. This study was suggested to highlight on the diversity of snake’s fauna of Tathleeth District, Aseer region, south west of Saudi Arabia, as an important part of the ecosystem that has to be maintained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reptiles are considered an important element of Saudi Arabia's wildlife to be conserved as a priority. However, the status and distribution of the Kingdom's reptile fauna is not well understood, thus hindering the conservation initiatives. Better understanding of the taxonomy and distribution of the Kingdom's reptile fauna is important for implementing effective conservation measures. Here, we provide the new distribution record of Pristurusminimus (Arnold, 1977; common name, Arnold's Gecko) from southern Saudi Arabia. The species was recorded from the Uruq Bani Ma'arid Protected Area (UBM) of southern Saudi Arabia. Four individuals were captured from different survey sites across the UBM and their species identification was confirmed through a mixture of physical and genetic examination. These results increase the number of species from the Pristurus genus to five for Saudi Arabia and improve the understanding of the Kingdom's reptile fauna and its distribution., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. I want to declare a conflict of interest Disclaimer: This article is (co-)authored by any of the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors or their deputies in this journal., (Mohammed Al Mutairi, Abdulaziz R Alqahtani, Zaffar Rais Mir, Riyaz Ahmad, Saad Alsubaie, Michael Smith.)

We describe and illustrate a new scorpion species, Androctonustihamicus sp. nov. , from the Mecca Province of southwestern Saudi Arabia. The new species is compared to the genus Androctonus Ehrenberg, 1828, which is distributed throughout the Middle East, and especially to A.australis (Linnaeus, 1758). We provide the molecular phylogeny for this species., (Abdulaziz R. Alqahtani, Ersen Aydın Yağmur, Ahmed Badry.)