Centruroides exilicauda, the Baja California bark scorpion, is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of bark scorpion

Scorpion

Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...

 found in Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

. It is closely related to the Arizona bark scorpion

Arizona bark scorpion

The Arizona bark scorpion , is a small light brown scorpion common to the southwest United States. The range of the scorpion is the Sonoran Desert...

 (Centruoides sculpuratus), but is not considered dangerous. Previously only distinguished by geographic range

Range (biology)

In biology, the range or distribution of a species is the geographical area within which that species can be found. Within that range, dispersion is variation in local density.The term is often qualified:...

, the two variants were classified in 1980 as the same species. Subsequently, differences in venom toxicity were recorded, and in 2004, DNA analysis

showed them to be separate species

Species problem

The species problem or species concept is a mixture of difficult, related questions that often come up when biologists identify species and when they define the word "species"....

.