• Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

• Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

• Chelicerates (Subphylum Chelicerata)

• Arachnids (Class Arachnida)

• Scorpions (Order Scorpiones)

• Suborder Neoscorpionina

• Infraorder Orthosterni

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Infraorder Orthosterni comprises the modern scorpions, a major lineage within the order Scorpiones that includes virtually all living scorpion species. With more than 2,500 described species, members of Orthosterni are distributed across every continent except Antarctica and inhabit an impressive variety of environments, including deserts, tropical rainforests, grasslands, rocky mountains, caves, and coastal regions. They are characterized by a segmented body divided into a cephalothorax and abdomen, large pincer-like pedipalps for grasping prey, and a long, flexible tail ending in a venomous stinger used primarily to subdue prey and defend against predators.