Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T06:05:46.860Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Paleohaemoproteus burmacis gen. n., sp. n. (Haemospororida: Plasmodiidae) from an Early Cretaceous biting midge (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2005

G. POINAR
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
S. R. TELFORD
Affiliation:
Department of Natural Sciences, The Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

Abstract

Paleohaemoproteus burmacis gen. n., sp. n. (Haemospororida: Plasmodiidae) is described from the abdominal cavity of a female biting midge (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) preserved in 100 million year old amber from Myanmar (Burma). The description is based on the developmental stages of oocysts and sporozoites. The fossil species differs from extant species of Haemoproteus by its wide range of oocyst sizes, small sporozoites and occurrence in an extinct species of biting midge. Numerous sporozoites in the abdominal cavity suggest that the biting midge was an effective vector of this malarial parasite. Characters of the biting midge suggest that the host was a large, cold-blooded vertebrate. This is the earliest record of a malaria parasite and first indication that Early Cretaceous reptiles were infected with haemosporidial parasites.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

ADIE, H. ( 1924). The sporogony of Haemoproteus columbae. Bulletin de la Société de Pathologie Exotique 17, 605613.Google Scholar
ATKINSON, C. T. & VAN RIPER Iii, C. ( 1991). Pathogenicity and epizootiology of avian Haematozoa: Plasmodium, Leucocytoozoon, and Haemoproteus. In Bird-Parasite Interactions: Ecology, Evolution, and Behaviour (ed. Loye, J. E. & Zuk, M.), pp. 1948. Oxford University Press, New York.
BENNETT, G. F. & PEIRCE, M. A. ( 1988). Morphological form in the avian Haemoproteidae and an annotated checklist of the genus Haemoproteus Kruse, 1890. Journal of Natural History 22, 16831696.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BOESEL, M. W. ( 1937). Order Diptera. In Insects and Arachnids from Canadian Amber, vol. 4 (ed. Carpenter, F. M., Folsom, E. D., Essig, A. C., Kinsey, A. C., Brues, C. T., Boesel, M. W. & Ewing, H. E.), pp. 4455. University of Toronto Studies, Geological Series.
BORKENT, A. ( 1995). Biting Midges in the Cretaceous Amber of North America (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Backhuys Publishers, Leiden.
CRUICKSHANK, R. D. & KO, K. ( 2003). Geology of an amber locality in the Hukawng Valley, northern Myanmar. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 21, 441445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DESSER, S. S. & BENNETT, G. F. ( 1993). The genera Leucocytozoon, Haemoproteus, and Hepatocystis. In Parasitic Protozoa, 2ndEdn, vol. 4,(ed.KREIER, J. P.), pp.273307. Academic Press, San Diego.
FALLIS, A. M. & BENNETT, G. F. ( 1960). Description of Haemoproteus canachites n. sp. (Sporozoa: Haemoproteidae) and sporogony in Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 38, 455464.Google Scholar
FALLIS, A. M. & BENNETT, G. F. ( 1961 a). Sporogony of Leucocytozoon and Haemoproteus in simuliids and ceratopogonids and a revised classification of the Haemosporidiida. Canadian Journal of Zoology 39, 215228.Google Scholar
FALLIS, A. M. & BENNETT, G. F. ( 1961 b). Ceratopogonidae as intermediate hosts for Haemoproteus and other parasites. Mosquito News 21, 2128.Google Scholar
FALLIS, A. M. & WOOD, D. M. ( 1957). Biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) as intermediate hosts for Haemoproteus of ducks. Canadian Journal of Zoology 35, 425435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GARNHAM, P. C. C. ( 1966). Malaria Parasites and other Haemosporidia. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
KHAN, R. A. & FALLIS, A. M. ( 1971). A note on the sporogony of Parahaemoproteus velans (=Haemoproteus velans Coatney and Roudabush) (Haemosporidia: Haemoproteidae) in species of Culicoides. Canadian Journal of Zoology 49, 420421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LANDAU, I., LAINSON, R., BOULARD, Y., MICHEL, Y. & SHAW, J. J. ( 1973). Dévelopment chez Culex pipiens de Saurocytozoon tupinambi (Sporozaire, Leucocytozoidae), parasite de lézards brésiliens. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Seances de l'Academie des Sciences 276, 24492452.Google Scholar
LINLEY, J. R. ( 1985). Biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) as vectors of nonviral animal pathogens. Journal of Medical Entomology 22, 589599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PERKINS, F. O., BARTA, J. R., CLOPTON, R. E., PIERCE, M. A. & UPTON, S. J. ( 2000). Phylum Apicomplexa Levine, 1970. In An Illustrated Guide to the Protozoa, 2nd Edn, vol. 1 (ed. Lee, J. J., Leedale, G. F. & Bradbury, P.), pp. 190369. Society of Protozoologists, Lawrence, Kansas.
POINAR, G. O. Jr. & MILKI, R. ( 2001). Lebanese Amber. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, USA.
STERLING, C. R. & DE GUISTI, D. L. ( 1974). Fine structure of differentiating oocysts and mature sporozoites of Haemoproteus metchnikovi in its intermediate host Chrysops callidus. Journal of Protozoology 21, 276283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TELFORD, S. R. Jr., ( 1984). Haemoparasites of reptiles. In Diseases of Amphibians and Reptiles (ed. Hoff, G. L., Frye, F. L. & Jacobson, E. R.), pp. 385517. Plenum Press, New York.CrossRef
TELFORD, S. R. Jr. ( 1994). Plasmodia of reptiles. In Parasitic Protozoa, 2nd Edn, vol. 7 (ed. Kreier, J. P.), pp. 171. Academic Press, San Diego.