Very slight sequence differences in the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, even single nucleotide substitutions, have been proposed as indicative of different species of avian malaria parasites. However, few studies have examined within-species variation in that gene for Plasmodium or related genera. We examined sequences for the entire cytochrome b gene from Plasmodium mexicanum , a parasite of ...

An increased susceptibility to disease is one hypothesis explaining how inbreeding hastens extinction in island endemics and threatened species. Experimental studies show that disease resistance declines as inbreeding increases, but data from in situ wildlife systems are scarce. Genetic diversity increases with island size across the entire range of an extremely inbred Galápagos endemic bird, p...

Spatial and temporal patterns in the distribution of the zooplankton in a tropical Man-made reservoirThol Bird Sanctuary were investigated for two consecutive years from September 2007 to August 2009. The zooplankton was sampled at two different zones of Thol wetland located 23 o 15’N and 72 o 30’E near Ahmedabad city of Gujarat state, India. Sixteen species of Rotifers rich in number of indivi...

We evaluated results of over 4400 documented faecal parasitological examinations between 2000 and 2007 in more than 90 individuals of six species of Birds of Paradise (BoP). Between 2000 and 2007, 83.2% of investigated samples were negative for parasites, and the number of negative samples increased consistently over the years; in positive samples, the proportion of Capillaria sp decreased (fro...

The acanthocephalan parasite Polymorphus minutus is a manipulator of its intermediate host Gammarus roeseli, which favours its transmission to the final host, a water bird. In contaminated environments, G. roeseli have to cope with two stresses, i.e. P. minutus infection and pollutants. As P. minutus survival relies on its host's survival, we investigated the influence of P. minutus on the anti...

1. Sex-biased mortality in adult vertebrates is often attributed to lower immunocompetence and higher parasite susceptibility of males. Although sex-specific mortality has also been reported during growth, the importance of sex-specific immunocompetence and parasite susceptibility in explaining male-biased mortality remains ambiguous in growing individuals because of potentially confounding sou...

During spring-summer 2003-2004, the avian community was surveyed for hemosporidian parasites in an oak (Quercus spp.) and madrone (Arbutus spp.) woodland bordering grassland and chaparral habitats at a site in northern California, a geographic location and in habitat types not previously sampled for these parasites. Of 324 birds from 46 species (21 families) sampled (including four species not ...

The protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, described by Nicolle and Manceaux in 1908, is a ubiquitous and cosmopolitan parasite that infects a wide range of mammal and bird species with high prevalence. The biological success of T. gondii is associated with the formation of a specific relationship between the parasite and host cells leading to the establishment of a latent, chronic infection. During prim...