title: Paleoparasitology: the origin of human parasites.
abstract: Parasitism is composed by three subsystems: the parasite, the host, and the environment. There are no organisms that cannot be parasitized. The relationship between a parasite and its host species most of the time do not result in damage or disease to the host. However, in a parasitic disease the presence of a given parasite is always necessary, at least in a given moment of the infection. Some parasite species that infect humans were inherited from pre-hominids, and were shared with other phylogenetically close host species, but other parasite species were acquired from the environment as humans evolved. Human migration spread inherited parasites throughout the globe. To recover and trace the origin and evolution of infectious diseases, paleoparasitology was created. Paleoparasitology is the study of parasites in ancient material, which provided new information on the evolution, paleoepidemiology, ecology and phylogenetics of infectious diseases.
authors.affiliation: Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de JaneiroRJ, Brasil.
authors.forename: Adauto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reinhard
authors.forename: Luiz Fernando
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pucu
authors.forename: Pedro Paulo
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Chieffi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D049690:History, Ancient; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D010271:Parasites / Q000469:parasitology*; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000266:history*; D010274:Parasitology / Q000266:history*