title: History of echinostomes (Trematoda).
abstract: Echinostomatidae (Trematoda) is the largest family within the class Trematoda. Members of this family have been studied for many years in relation to their utility as basic research models in biodiversity and systematics and also as experimental models in parasitology since they offer many advantages. Echinostomes have contributed significantly to numerous developments in many areas studied by parasitologists and experimental biologists. In this review, we examine the history of the echinostomebased studies from the beginnings to the present. For this purpose, we have divided the history of echinostomes into four periods (i.e. 18(th) and 19(th) centuries, first half of the 20(th) century, second half of the 20(th) century and the late 20(th) and 21(th) century) according to the types of studies performed in each of them. Moreover, we also briefly review the history of echinostome infections in humans.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Valencia, Av. Vicente Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100, Burjassot - Valencia, Spain, rafael.toledo@uv.es.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Toledo
authors.forename: Valentin
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Radev
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kanev
authors.forename: Scott L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Gardner
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fried
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D010274:Parasitology / Q000266:history*; D012106:Research / Q000266:history; D013045:Species Specificity; D014200:Trematoda / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D014201:Trematode Infections / Q000469:parasitology*