Paleoparasitology and the antiquity of human host-parasite relationships

Paleoparasitology may be developed as a new tool to parasite evolution studies. DNA sequences dated thousand years ago, recovered from archaeological material, means the possibility to study parasite-host relationship coevolution through time. Together with tracing parasite-host dispersion throughou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Main Authors: Adauto Araújo, Luiz Fernando Ferreira
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) 2000-01-01
Subjects:
paleoparasitology
coprolites
mummies
parasitism
infectious diseases
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762000000700016
Description
Summary:Paleoparasitology may be developed as a new tool to parasite evolution studies. DNA sequences dated thousand years ago, recovered from archaeological material, means the possibility to study parasite-host relationship coevolution through time. Together with tracing parasite-host dispersion throughout the continents, paleoparasitology points to the interesting field of evolution at the molecular level. In this paper a brief history of paleoparasitology is traced, pointing to the new perspectives opened by the recent techniques introduced.
ISSN:0074-0276
1678-8060

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