taxonID	type	description	language	source
03D1A66CFF85A250E0B3F0A3C832ED12.taxon	description	The female holotype of Buthus barbouri (MCZ IZ: 89296) examined here has a total body length of 61.29 mm (60 mm in Werner, 1932) and a pectinal tooth count of 25 (24 – 25 in Werner, 1932). Our re-examination, however, reveals that it does not belong to Buthus, as concluded by Werner (1938), nor to Androctonus, as suggested by Vachon (1952) and Sousa et al. (2017). This conclusion is supported by the diagnosis presented here: (1) carapace carinae are distinct and strongly developed, particularly the posteromedian and centromedian carinae (Fig. 1 A); (2) centrolateral and posteromedian carinae are not connected and therefore do not form a lyre-shaped configuration as observed in Buthus species (Fig. 1 A); (3) centromedian and centrolateral carinae approach each other very closely but remain unconnected as in Hottentotta species (Fig. 1 A); (4) pedipalp femur and patella are sparsely to moderately hirsute; (5) pedipalp chelae (Figs. 2 A – B) are weakly hirsute, with long fingers and manus longer than wide (L / W ratio: 1.77; L: 4.41 mm, W: 3.03 mm); (6) metasomal segments are longer than wide; however, segment I (Fig. 2 C) is almost as long as wide (L / W ratio: 1.01; L: 4.25 mm, W: 4.18 mm), in contrast to that reported by Werner (L: 5 mm, W: 4 mm; see Werner 1932); (7) metasomal segments are moderately hirsute, with ventrolateral carinae of metasomal segment V not lobate, as in Buthus and some Androctonus species (Fig. 2 D). Accordingly, it can be concluded that this specimen is simply a misidentified Hottentotta gentili specimen sensu stricto by Werner, and therefore B. barbouri herein is considered a junior synonym of H. gentili.	en	Mousaid, Mohamed, Flores, Zoe, Rivera, Alana, Lansari, Aziza, Bouazza, Abdellah (2026): Rediscovery of the enigmatic holotype of Buthus barbouri Werner, 1932 (Scorpiones: Buthidae), with a new synonymy. Zootaxa 5768 (4): 597-600, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5768.4.12, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5768.4.12
03D1A66CFF85A250E0B3F0A3C832ED12.taxon	discussion	Comment. It should be noted that the holotype of B. barbouri is clearly a female and not a male as originally stated by Werner (1932), as this is clearly indicated by the shape of the genital operculum and by the reduced size and number of the pectinal teeth (Fig. 1 C). This sex misidentification was likely the main character that specifically influenced Vachon (1952) in proposing the possible relationship cited above, rather than considering H. gentili as the more logically related species, even based on Werner’s (1932) diagnosis. This is directly due to the high number of pectinal teeth in both sexes of H. gentili (28 – 31 in females and 32 – 34 in males; see Vachon 1952), which is lower in A. mauritanicus (20 – 24 in females, 25 – 30 in males; see Vachon, 1952) and A. bourdoni (23 – 25 in females, 27 – 29 in males; see Vachon 1952). In our view, this difference represents simply an intraspecific variation, and the number of pectinal teeth in females of this species may, however, be lower than usually reported, varying from 25 to 31.	en	Mousaid, Mohamed, Flores, Zoe, Rivera, Alana, Lansari, Aziza, Bouazza, Abdellah (2026): Rediscovery of the enigmatic holotype of Buthus barbouri Werner, 1932 (Scorpiones: Buthidae), with a new synonymy. Zootaxa 5768 (4): 597-600, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5768.4.12, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5768.4.12
