Parasites and human evolution
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 18938918 |
|---|---|
| Authors | George H Perry (0000-0003-4527-3806, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 218-228 |
| Publication date | 2014-11-12 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1060-1538 • E-ISSN: 1520-6505 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/evan.21427 |
| PMID | 25627083 |
| OpenAlex | W2162628722 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 110 |
Our understanding of human evolutionary and population history can be advanced by ecological and evolutionary studies of our parasites. Many parasites flourish only in the presence of very specific human behaviors and in specific habitats, are wholly dependent on us, and have evolved with us for thousands or millions of years. Therefore, by asking when and how we first acquired those parasites, under which environmental and cultural conditions we are the most susceptible, and how the parasites have evolved and adapted to us and we in response to them, we can gain considerable insight into our own evolutionary history. As examples, the tapeworm life cycle is dependent on our consumption of meat, the divergence of body and head lice may have been subsequent to the development of clothing, and malaria hyperendemicity may be associated with agriculture. Thus, the evolutionary and population histories of these parasites are likely intertwined with critical aspects of human biology and culture. Here I review the mechanics of these and multiple other parasite proxies for human evolutionary history and discuss how they currently complement our fossil, archeological, molecular, linguistic, historical, and ethnographic records. I also highlight potential future applications of this promising model for the field of evolutionary anthropology
Biology · Evolutionary biology · Evolutionary ecology · Human evolution · Niche construction · Population · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Zoology · Anthropology · Demography · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research · Zoonotic diseases and public health · Ecology
Lice, gossip and the origins of language
Regional Continuity and Local Challenges to Resilience among Holocene Hunter-Gatherers of the Greater Cape Floristic Region, South Africa
Why do we love pandas and hate cockroaches
Relationship of sanitation, water boiling, and mosquito nets to health biomarkers in a rural subsistence population
Studying human and nonhuman primate evolutionary biology with powerful in vitro and in vivo functional genomics tools
Disgust and distaste – Differential mechanisms for the rejection of plant- and animal-source foods
Hookworms Make Us Human
Control of Fire in the Paleolithic
Developing evolutionary anthropology in local ecosystems
Human behaviors driving disease emergence
Grooming in primates
The genome of a Late Pleistocene human from a Clovis burial site in western Montana
Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Ancient Canids Suggest a European Origin of Domestic Dogs
Macrovertebrate Paleontology and the Pliocene Habitat of Ardipithecus ramidus
Seasonal trends in intestinal nematode infection and medicinal plant use among chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania
Soil-transmitted helminth infections
The earliest evidence for anatomically modern humans in northwestern Europe
Anatomically modern human in Southeast Asia (Laos) by 46 ka
An Aboriginal Australian Genome Reveals Separate Human Dispersals into Asia
Worldwide Human Relationships Inferred from Genome-Wide Patterns of Variation
Reconstructing Native American population history
Dating the late prehistoric dispersal of Polynesians to New Zealand using the commensal Pacific rat
Configurational approach to identifying the earliest hominin butchers
Resurrecting Surviving Neandertal Lineages from Modern Human Genomes
Relationship of chimpanzee leaf‐swallowing to a tapeworm infection
Ancient DNA and the human settlement of the Pacific
The Kelp Highway Hypothesis
Rethinking Easter Island's ecological catastrophe
Ancient DNA of the Pacific rat (Rattus exulans) from Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Leaf-swallowing by chimpanzees
Grooming site preferences in primates and their functional implications
A case of hookworm infestation in a precolumbian American
The loss of functional body hair in man
An early bone tool industry from the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa
Prehistoric Diet and Parasitic Infection in Tennessee
Parasitology as an Interpretive Tool in Archaeology
Anthropological Implications of Sickle Cell Gene Distribution in West Africa1
The Evolution of Human Skin and Skin Color
The Origins of Agriculture in the Near East
Parasites, Paleoclimate, and the Peopling of the Americas
Hookworm
| Citations per year | 1.11 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2017 - 2026 (10) |
| Highly cited | No |