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1 February 2017 Earliest Evidence of Toxocara sp. in a 1.2-Million-Yr-Old Extinct Hyena (Pachycrocuta brevirostris) Coprolite from Northwest Pakistan
Angela R. Perri, Susann Heinrich, Shira Gur-Arieh, Jeffrey J. Saunders
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Abstract

The study of fossil parasites can provide insight into the antiquity of host–parasite relationships and the origins and evolution of these paleoparasites. Here, a coprolite (fossilized feces) from the 1.2-million-yr-old paleontological site of Haro River Quarry in northwestern Pakistan was analyzed for paleoparasites. Micromorphological thin sectioning and Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) analysis confirms the coprolite belonged to a bone-eating carnivore, likely the extinct giant short-faced hyena (Pachycrocuta brevirostris). Parasitological analysis shows the coprolite to be positive for Toxocara sp. To our knowledge, this is the earliest evidence for Toxocara sp. found.

© American Society of Parasitologists 2017
Angela R. Perri, Susann Heinrich, Shira Gur-Arieh, and Jeffrey J. Saunders "Earliest Evidence of Toxocara sp. in a 1.2-Million-Yr-Old Extinct Hyena (Pachycrocuta brevirostris) Coprolite from Northwest Pakistan," Journal of Parasitology 103(1), 138-141, (1 February 2017). https://doi.org/10.1645/16-71
Published: 1 February 2017
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