title: Plasmodium dominicana n. sp. (Plasmodiidae: Haemospororida) from Tertiary Dominican amber.
abstract: Plasmodium dominicana n. sp. is described from Tertiary Dominican Republic amber. The description is based on oocysts, sporozoites and possible microgametes and an ookinete in the body-cavity of a female Culex mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae: Culicinae). The large pedunculated oocysts, together with the culicine vector, align the fossil with the extant avain malaria species, P. juxtanucleare Versiani & Gomes, 1941. Based on the host range of P. juxtanucleare, a possible primary host would have been a member of the order Galliformes. This discovery establishes a minimum age for the genus Plasmodium Marchiafava & Celli, 1885 and places avian malaria in the Americas by the mid-Tertiary. It also supports earlier theories that some species of primate malaria could have evolved in the Americas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Poinar
mesh_terms: D018647:Amber; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003465:Culex / Q000469:parasitology*; D004293:Dominican Republic; D005580:Fossils; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000469:parasitology; D033661:Oocysts / Q000166:cytology; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D034101:Sporozoites / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D018647:Amber