Greece has added two new scorpion species to the 34 already known. The new species are endemic and are found specifically on the Greek islands of Skyros and Andros.

The discovery has intrigued scientists who have been studying the biodiversity of Greece for decades, like Professor Aris Parmakelis, president of the Department of Biology and member of the scientific team. Parmakelis told the Athens News Agency, “the discovery of the new species creates a sense of relief and engenders the optimistic view that we may finally have time to take action on the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity, as life in its ingenuity continues to defy our irrationality.”

The detection of the new species was made by an international scientific team with a combination of researchers from United States, Italy, and Greece.

The scorpion species found belong to the genus Euscorpius of the family Euscorpiidae, one of the three families of scorpions that spread in Greece.

In honor of the scientists who collected the scorpions in Andros and Skyros, the new species were named after them, Euscorpius simaiakisi and Euscorpius triantisi.

Professor Parmakelis and Dr. Yasmi Stathis, researchers at the University of Crete and the Museum of Natural History of Crete, reported to the Athens News Agency saying, “it is important to further strengthen biodiversity research through funding of national and European actions. In this way, the patterns of the spread of biodiversity in our country will be highlighted and it will be possible to plan management and development actions that will take into account both the climate crisis and the protection of biodiversity, which is a European and national obligation.”