Flat Rock Scorpion

The flat rock scorpion, Hadogenes troglodytes, is a scorpion native to southern Africa, found in Limpopo province and northern Mpumalanga in South Africa and extending into Botswana, Zimbabwe and western Mozambique, where it lives in humid rocky habitats rich in cracks and crevices. Its body, pincers and tail are notably flattened, an adaptation that lets it squeeze through narrow rock crevices, and it was long considered the longest of all scorpion species at around 20 centimeters before being surpassed by a related species. The species is highly sedentary, tending to remain in the same rocky outcrop for its whole life, which makes local populations vulnerable to habitat destruction from mining.