The History of Evolution of Life on Earth Told by Paleoparasitology - Juniper Publishers

The History of Evolution of Life on Earth Told by Paleoparasitology

Authored by Daniela Leles

Through the study of parasites and other microorganisms in ancient material Paleoparasitology can presuppose on the way of life of our ancestors, established relations with and between animals and the environment, and their reflexes until the contemporary period dealing with several areas of knowledge. Therefore, it has been possible to recover intestinal parasites from coprolites of Cinodontes and Dicionodontes dating to 240mya, a group with important evolutionary aspects for the origin of mammals. The finding of primitive forms of Plasmodium spp., Trypanosoma spp., and Leishmania spp. in amber dating back thousands of years has shed light on discussions about the origin and evolution of parasite species that affect humans today. The study of lice DNA helped to discover when clothing emerged in mankind, and that was an important point for the conquest of the icy continents. The discovery of "geohemints” in coprolites of the Americas pre-Columbian period reaffirmed that the first Amerindians also arrived by the sea, and not exclusively by the Bering Strait. It showed the influence of diseases on the fall of emperors and wars such as the possible death of "Pharaoh Tutankhamun” from malaria, battles of the "Great Crusades” may have been lost due to chronic diarrhea caused by intestinal protozoa, or death of Napoleon soldiers by the trench fever. Thus Paleoparasitology helps to tell the story of life on earth using parasites as a clue.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Art and Science: Combustion via Art- Juniper Publishers

Image
Archaeology & Anthropology -  Juniper Publishers Introduction Combustion, burning or fire is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of the chemical species to new ones. Combustion supplies most of the energy required by human civilisation where the visible result is fire and flames usually consisting of hot gases and light. The phenomenon of fire is mentioned already in the Bible in Genesis 15:17 as follows:”When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passes between the pieces.” Probably the earliest reasonably scientific attempt to explain combustion was that of Johannes Baptista van Helmont [1], a Flemish physician and alchemist. He observed the relationship among a burning material, smoke and flame and said that combustion involved the escape of a “wild spirit” from the burning material. In 1667 Johann Joachim Becher
Read more

Discovery of an Escape Tunnel in Sobibor-Juniper Publishers

Image
Archaeology & Anthropology -  Juniper Publishers Introduction The archaeological excavations in the former Nazi-extermination camp of Sobibor in eastern Poland are made possible by a collaboration of four countries: Israel, Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia. Main goal of this joint project is the realization of a visitor centre and monument on the site. The still ongoing excavations, upscaled since 2011, are carried out in order to make construction works possible, and to reveal sensible traces, gain knowledge about the inner structure of the camp and to secure personal items. The excavations were carried out under supervision of Wojciech Mazurek MA (Sub Terra Archaeological Research, Chełm, Poland), Yoram Haimi (representative of Yad Vashem, Israel) and Ivar Schute (representative of the Dutch Ministry of Welfare, since 2013). Inner Structure of the Camp The former Nazi-extermination camp of Sobibor, in which ar
Read more

Metal Weapons of “Warrior’ Burials” Found in the Middle Bronze Age II Southern Levant – Economical and Social Aspects-Juniper Publishers

Image
Archaeology & Anthropology- Juniper Publishers Case Report and Results More than 1000 copper-based weapons associated with the Middle Bronze Age II (MB II; ca. 1950–1550 BCE) culture have been recovered, primarily in burials, throughout the Levant (Figure 1); [1-7]. These, funerary contexts have generally been referred to as “warrior burials”, and contained individuals buried with a presumed “kit”, comprising weapons, such as daggers, axes and spearheads found on the deceased’s waist and/or next to their head (Figure 2). The “warrior burials” are dated mainly to the first half of the MBII period (MB IIA; 1950–1750 BCE) and decline in occurrence in the Middle Bronze IIB (MB IIB; 1750–1550 BCE) [6-8]. Recently, it has been shown [6,7] that less than 25% of all the MB IIA burials can be defined as “warrior burials”, and they should rather be considered to reflect high-ranking members of the contemporary society, i.e., an elite social class . The weapons in the MB IIA “warrior’ burials
Read more