Scorpiurus muricatus
speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Scorpiurus muricatus's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation10 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility8 755 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI3 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics5 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Scorpiurus muricatus - MHNT Scorpiurus muricatus, the caterpillar-plant or prickly scorpion's-tail, is an annual leguminous plant native to southern Europe and Greater Syria with tiny pea-like flowers and simple leaves uncharacteristic of a legume. Its contorted, pubescent pods give rise to its common name "prickly caterpillar". Extracts of the species have been found to have allelopathic effects on microbes of the genus Fusarium due to the high concentration of phytoalexins in the plants' tissues. This is mainly a garden plant used as a groundcover. Its densely haired pods may be added to salads for interest, and its leaves used as a salad herb in some Mediterranean countries.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology16
Life cycle & reproduction9
Diet & foraging1
Habitat & environment13
Physiology & chemistry4
Other traits1
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Scorpiurus muricatus has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Scorpiurus muricatus carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 2853×CCDB · ita-fl · CCDB · iapt · CCDB · iber-fl +12
2n 142×CCDB · ipcn-api-dl
2n 81×CCDB · book-ipcn75-78
n 71×CCDB · book-ipcn75-78
n 141×CCDB · Cannon, 2015
polyploid inferred1×PloiDB · family-scale
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type8 755 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions42 of 81 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| LDlocation not on record | 224 |
| Berlin, DE | 220 |
| BIO-UNIPIlocation not on record | 193 |
| ISAlocation not on record | 63 |
| CICYTEXlocation not on record | 55 |
| Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record | 50 |
| UIBlocation not on record | 47 |
| MAlocation not on record | 39 |
| Córdoba, ES | 39 |
| Badajoz, ES | 33 |
| Phyletisches Museum Jenalocation not on record | 29 |
| BDBClocation not on record | 28 |
| Kew, GB | 27 |
| Wlocation not on record | 24 |
| Barcelona, ES | 22 |
| Granada, ES | 19 |
| BClocation not on record | 18 |
| College of the Atlantic, Museumlocation not on record | 15 |
| Moscow State Universitylocation not on record | 15 |
| València, ES | 14 |
| MeiseBGlocation not on record | 14 |
| Salamanca, ES | 13 |
| BRNUlocation not on record | 13 |
| San Sebastián, ES | 11 |
| Universidad del Pais Vasco (UPV/EHU)location not on record | 11 |
| Mount Annan, AU | 11 |
| Rishon Le Zion, IL | 11 |
| ESP010location not on record | 10 |
| Pamplona, ES | 10 |
| Saint Louis, US | 9 |
| Madrid, ES | 8 |
| PRClocation not on record | 8 |
| Jaén, ES | 8 |
| South Kensington, GB | 8 |
| PRT004location not on record | 7 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 6 |
| Provincia di Livornolocation not on record | 6 |
| Coimbra, PT | 5 |
| Bronx, US | 5 |
| Stockholm, SE | 5 |
| Görlitz, DE | 5 |
| Entomological Society of Latvialocation not on record | 5 |
| Winterthur, CH | 4 |
| Uppsala, SE | 3 |
| Sevilla, ES | 3 |
| San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record | 3 |
| Oskarshamn, SE | 2 |
| GJOlocation not on record | 2 |
| John May Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 2 |
| Brussel, BE | 2 |
| University of Stellenboschlocation not on record | 2 |
| Museo della Bonifica di San Donà di Piavelocation not on record | 2 |
| Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicachlocation not on record | 2 |
| WAGlocation not on record | 2 |
| Canberra, AU | 2 |
| San Diego, US | 1 |
| Chongqing Museumlocation not on record | 1 |
| CZE096location not on record | 1 |
| Brisbane, AU | 1 |
| Embrapa Agrobiology Diazothrophic Microbial Culture Collectionlocation not on record | 1 |
| Santiago de Compostela, ES | 1 |
| Dresden, DE | 1 |
| Paris, FR | 1 |
| BSBIlocation not on record | 1 |
| Adelaide, AU | 1 |
| Odawara, JP | 1 |
| SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record | 1 |
| National Range Agencylocation not on record | 1 |
| Montréal, CA | 1 |
| Podgorica, ME | 1 |
| Sede di Via Giorgio La Pira del Museo di Storia naturale di Firenze | Via Giorgio La Pira headquarter of the Natural History Museum in Florencelocation not on record | 1 |
| Campo Mourão, BR | 1 |
| Mlocation not on record | 1 |
| Haramaya Universitylocation not on record | 1 |
| Xiamen, CN | 1 |
| Christchurch, NZ | 1 |
| Phoenix, US | 1 |
| UTFPR-CPlocation not on record | 1 |
| EEZA-CSIClocation not on record | 1 |
| Bern, CH | 1 |
| Göteborg, SE | 1 |
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Where the DNA of Scorpiurus muricatus was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.