Abstract
Can Specialized Pathogens Colonize Distantly Related Hosts? Schistosome Evolution as a Case Study
Highlights
P arasites that live in intimate contact with the immune system of their hosts require specialized adaptations to survive in such exposed environments
The discovery of G. amoena [4], the only species of schistosome known in an ectotherm, gave rise to a hypothesis that schistosomes arose in early ectothermic archosaurs, for example, ancestors of modern crocodiles, and radiated into endothermic archosaurs
This view was supported by a phylogenetic analysis of adult morphology, which placed G. amoena as basal, or ancestral, among schistosomes [11], and challenged the role of endothermy as the pivotal factor driving schistosome diversification [10,11,12]
Summary
P arasites that live in intimate contact with the immune system of their hosts require specialized adaptations to survive in such exposed environments. Schistosomes infect birds or mammals, but one species, Griphobilharzia amoena, often considered the missing link in schistosome evolution, is known to infect freshwater crocodiles [4].
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