Thomy-Headed Worm Infection in North American Prehistoric Man
21 Mar 1969-Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science)-Vol. 163, Iss: 3873, pp 1324-1325
TL;DR: Examination of ova and parasites from coprolites of probable human origin revealed eggs of the phylum Acanthocephala, and it is postulated that prehistoric man developed Acanthospora infection by ingesting the arthropod intermediate host.
Abstract: Examination of ova and parasites from coprolites of probable human origin revealed eggs of the phylum Acanthocephala. Specimens were gathered from Danger Cave in Utah, an area heavily populatd with definitive rodent hosts for the Acanthocephala species Moniliformis clarki. It is postulated that prehistoric man developed Acanthocephala infection by ingesting the arthropod intermediate host, or that he was a victim of false parasitism by ingesting the whole rodent.
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TL;DR: Several lines of evidence suggest that the accelerated loss and compensatory over-production of red blood cells seen in hemolytic and megaloblastic anemias is the most likely proximate cause of porotic hyperostosis.
Abstract: Porosities in the outer table of the cranial vault (porotic hyperostosis) and orbital roof (cribra orbitalia) are among the most frequent pathological lesions seen in ancient human skeletal collections. Since the 1950s, chronic iron-deficiency anemia has been widely accepted as the probable cause of both conditions. Based on this proposed etiology, bioarchaeologists use the prevalence of these conditions to infer living conditions conducive to dietary iron deficiency, iron malabsorption, and iron loss from both diarrheal disease and intestinal parasites in earlier human populations. This iron-deficiency-anemia hypothesis is inconsistent with recent hematological research that shows iron deficiency per se cannot sustain the massive red blood cell production that causes the marrow expansion responsible for these lesions. Several lines of evidence suggest that the accelerated loss and compensatory over-production of red blood cells seen in hemolytic and megaloblastic anemias is the most likely proximate cause of porotic hyperostosis. Although cranial vault and orbital roof porosities are sometimes conflated under the term porotic hyperostosis, paleopathological and clinical evidence suggests they often have different etiologies. Reconsidering the etiology of these skeletal conditions has important implications for current interpretations of malnutrition and infectious disease in earlier human populations.
679 citations
TL;DR: According to the findings, it is probable that A. lumbricoides was originally a human parasite and alternative routes for human parasite introduction into the Americas are discussed.
Abstract: Almost all known human specific parasites have been found in ancient feces. A review of the paleoparasitological helminth and intestinal protozoa findings available in the literature is presented. We also report the new paleoparasitologic findings from the examination performed in samples collected in New and Old World archaeological sites. New finds of ancylostomid, Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Enterobius vermicularis, Trichostrongylus spp., Diphyllobothrium latum, Hymenolepis nana and Acantocephalan eggs are reported. According to the findings, it is probable that A. lumbricoides was originally a human parasite. Human ancylostomids, A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura, found in the New World in pre-Columbian times, have not been introduced into the Americas by land via Beringia. These parasites could not supported the cold climate of the region. Nomadic prehistoric humans that have crossed the Bering Land Bridge from Asia to the Americas in the last glaciation, probably during generations, would have lost these parasites, which life cycles need warm temperatures in the soil to be transmitted from host to host. Alternative routes are discussed for human parasite introduction into the Americas.
292 citations
Cites background from "Thomy-Headed Worm Infection in Nort..."
...…Oregon USA 4850 BC Hall 1976 Boqueirão Soberbo, Minas Gerais Brazil 4905 ± 85 - 1325 ± 60 BP New finding Danger Cave, Utah USA 1869 ± 60 BC and 20 ± 240 AD Moore et al. 1969 Gentio Cave, Minas Gerais a Brazil 3490 ±120 - 430 ± 70 BP New finding Clyde’s Cavern, Utah USA 2300 years and 400 - 1200…...
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TL;DR: Analysis of the distribution of parasite remains can be used to interpret aspects of site-formation processes and to reconstruct aspects of diet, health, and other behaviors such as transhumance and trade.
Abstract: Parasitological studies of archaeological sites can be used to interpret past behavior and living conditions. During the 1980s problem-oriented research into prehistoric- and historical-period parasitism developed and resulted in the field of archaeoparasitology. Archaeoparasitology attempts to integrate parasite data into archaeological theory and interpretation. Within the last decade, four major archaeoparasitological laboratories emerged. They developed interpretive frameworks that apply parasitological data to a remarkable variety of prehistoric behaviors. Parasite remains can be used to reconstruct aspects of diet, health, and other behaviors such as transhumance and trade. Finally, analysis of the distribution of parasite remains can be used to interpret aspects of site-formation processes.
150 citations
Cites background from "Thomy-Headed Worm Infection in Nort..."
...Other parasites that cause disease and are described and discussed in the archaeoparasitology literature from the New World include acanthocephalans in the Great Basin (Moore et al. 1969) and Strongyloides stercoralis at Antelope House, Arizona (Reinhard 1985b)....
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...Acanthocephalan eggs have been found in human coprolites from the Great Basin and from the southwestern United States (Fry 1977; Fry and Hall 1969; Hall 1972, 1977; Moore et al. 1969)....
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TL;DR: It is clear that prehistoric peoples in the Americas were host to a variety of human parasites, some of which were not previously thought to be present before historic times.
Abstract: The study of prehistoric parasitism through analysis of coprolites, mummies, skeletons, and latrine soils is rapidly growing. Its development in North America is interdisciplinary and is derived from the fields of physical anthropology, parasitology, and archaeology. The various parasite finds from North America are reviewed. The data show that prehistoric peoples in North America suffered from a variety of parasitic diseases. The validity of the findings are then considered. Although most finds of parasites from prehistoric contexts result from human infections, some finds cannot be verified as such. However, in combination with data from South America, it is clear that prehistoric peoples in the Americas were host to a variety of human parasites, some of which were not previously thought to be present before historic times.
146 citations
TL;DR: Between the agricultural sites, differences in patterns of excreta disposal, foraging behavior, and local ecology resulted in pronounced variations in both percentage of coprolites containing parasite remains and the number of parasite species represented.
Abstract: The study of coprolites (desiccated feces) is recognized as a viable method for analyzing parasitism of prehistoric peoples. Eight species of helminth parasites, including nematodes, cestodes, and acanthcephalans, have been recovered from archaeological sites on the Colorado Plateau. The comparative analysis of parasitological findings illustrates the effects of changing subsistence strategies and varying life-style on prehistoric human parasitism. This comparative study is based on the analysis of coprolites recovered from one Archaic hunter-gatherer site and two Anasazi agricultural villages. Hunter-gatherers are represented by coprolites from Dust Devil Cave in south-eastern Utah. Coprolites of prehistoric agriculturalists from Antelope House in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, and from Salmon Ruin in northwestern New Mexico were studied. The results demonstrate that helminth parasitism increased with the advent of agriculture. Between the agricultural sites, differences in patterns of excreta disposal, foraging behavior, and local ecology resulted in pronounced variations in both percentage of coprolites containing parasite remains and the number of parasite species represented.
115 citations
References
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Book•
01 Jan 1967
TL;DR: An introduction to parasitology and a meta-analyses of the immune response to infectious disease.
Abstract: Introduction to parasitology , Introduction to parasitology , مرکز فناوری اطلاعات و اطلاع رسانی کشاورزی
19 citations
15 citations
TL;DR: The life cycle of Moniliformis clarki is demonstrated and its larval development described, and its long life cycle in Periplaneta americana (American cockroach) is demonstrated.
Abstract: The life cycle of Moniliformis clarki is demonstrated and its larval development described. Development to the infective cystacanth stage in the intermediate host, the camel cricket Ceuthophilus utahensis, requires approximately 60 days at 25 C and 50% relative humidity. Eggs were first observed in the feces 65 days after uninfected mice were fed cystacanths. The acanthocephalan, Moniliformis clarki, from the squirrel Sciurus niger rufiventer St. Hilaire, 1803, was named and described by Ward (1917). He did not adequately distinguish it from M. moniliformis (Bremser, 1811). Van Cleave (1925) gave the first specific description of M. clarki, and the validity of the species was accepted by Chandler (1941), who later (1947) compared it with M. moniliformis from rats and summarized their differences. Van Cleave (1953) synonymized Hormorhynchus clarki (Ward, 1917); Echinorhynchus moniliformis Bremser, 1811, in part; Giganthorhynchus moniliformis Bremser, 1811, in part; and Moniliformis spiradentatis McLeod, 1933, as Moniliformis clarki. Moniliformis moniliformis has a long life cycle in Periplaneta americana (American cockroach) (Chandler, 1941; Moore, 1946). Intermediate hosts for M. clarki were unknown until
13 citations
TL;DR: The author develops his thesis by considering first “ the Parasites” then “The Host and its Reactions”, and is eminently capable of viewing the subject in its wide perspective.
Abstract: In contrast to numerous texts and reference books on human and veterinary parasitology, only three English language publications on comparative parasitology and parasitism have appeared in recent years, viz., Pearse (1942), Baer (1941) and Lapage (1951). It is therefore a matter of considerable interest to have a new contribution to this latter field written by one who is eminently capable of viewing the subject in its wide perspective. The volume is dedicated to Sir Patrick Manson, father of Tropical Medicine, and to Professor Robert Thomson Leiper, dean of British helminthologists.
Following a brief “Introduction” in which it is emphasized that parasites, like all other forms of life, in general carry out the physiologic processes common to all, the author develops his thesis by considering first “The Parasites” then “The Host and its Reactions”.“The Parasites”are presented under three main categories, (1) The Protista,including Bacteria, Fungi, Spirochaeta, Protozoa, Viruses and Rickettsiae, (2) The Lower Metazoa, consisting of Coelenterata and The Helminths (Platyhelminths, Nematoda and Nematomorpha) and the Higher Metazoa, viz., Annelida, Arthropoda, Mollusca and Vertebrata.
1 citations