EXPLORATIONS SPÉLÉOLOGIQUES EN RÉPUBLIQUE ...

egarding the phylogenetic position of this enigmatic
scorpion. Disagreement exists also on the time this
family split from all all other scorpion lineages,
opinions ranging from well before the Triassic to
Upper Cretaceous and Lower Tertiary times. The
disjunct distribution established with this new family
member reopens this discussion, because the only
possible land connection between Uzbekistan/
Tajikistan and Laos is the old Asian core. Although the
Palaeozoic history of detachment and collision of these
parts is quite speculative, these events took place
before the Cretaceous.
Nothing is known on the life history or ecology of this
species.
Photo 67 – Scutigère (© H. Steiner)
Remerciements
Centipedes
Thereuopoda sp. (Fam. Scutigeridae)
The large scutigerid centipede Thereuopoda
longicornis is one of the character species of Lao caves
and seen in most karst areas of the country. Small
scutigerids collected in Tham Xe Bang Fai and Tham
Pha Leusi are probably immature stages of this species.
Millipedes
Millipeds are quite common in lao caves, at least two
different taxa were collected in Tham Xe Bang Fai,
Tham Pheung and Tham Pong. A more thorough
search will most probably yield millipeds from the
other caves of the area as well.
We gratefully acknowledge our debts to all the specialists who identified our specimens:
• Bats Paul Bates, Harrison Institution, UK
• Birds Matthias Fehlow, Kelkheim, Germany
• Frogs Thomas Ziegler, Kölner Zoo, Germany
• Fishes Maurice Kottelat, National University of Singapore
• Shrimps Dirk Brandis, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Germany
• Cockroach Leonid Anisyutkin, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
• Spider Peter Jäger & Stephen Bayer, Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
• Scorpions Wilson Lourenço, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France.
Bibliographie
ANISYUTKIN, L.N. 2009: New data on Epilamprinae from Vietnam and Laos (Dictyoptera: Blaberidae). -
Zoosystematica Rossica 18 (1): 48-53.
BAYER, S. & JÄGER, P. 2009. Heteropoda species from limesone caves in Laos (Araneae: Sparassidae:
Heteropodinae). - Zootaxa 2143: 1-23.
BAYER, S. & JÄGER, P. 2010: Expected species richness in the genus Psechrus in Laos (Araneae: Psechridae). -
Revue Suisse de Zoologie 117 (1): 57-75.
LOURENÇO, W. R. 2007. First record of the family Pseudochactidae Gromov (Chelicerata, Scorpiones) from
Laos and new biogeographic evidence of a Pangaean paleodistribution. - Comptes Rendus Biologies 330: 770-
777.
Xé Bang Fai - Laos Central 2007-2008 - Rapport d'activité Page 61