title: The fossil tabanids (Diptera Tabanidae): when they began to appreciate warm blood and when they began transmit diseases?
abstract: A discussion of the known fossil tabanids (Diptera Tabanidae) is presented based on fossil evidence. This includes the origin of the hemathophagy in the Brachycera, more specifically for tabanids. Several tabanid species in the extant fauna are vectors for disease-producing organisms that affect humans and animals. Bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae, protozoa, and filarial worms can be transmitted by them, causing such diseases as anthrax, tularemia, anaplasmosis, various forms of trypanosomiasis, Q fever, and filariasis. However, if tabanids are directly responsible for all of these diseases is not consensual and the known fossil evidence is presented here.
authors.affiliation: Sociedade Brasileira de Paleoartropodologia, Universidade Guarulhos, Rua Arnaldo Vitaliano 150, apto 81, 14091-220 Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil. martinsneto@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Rafael Gioia
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Martins-Neto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004175:Diptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005580:Fossils; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*; D008297:Male