Although many studies have been conducted concerning human coprolites, there is a paucity of archaeohelminthological data from nonhuman animals. Eight coprolite samples were examined from dogs associated with the Chiribaya culture, a pre-Columbian agrarian and pastoral society that inhabited the lower and middle regions of the Osmore river in southern Peru between about 700 and 1476 a.d. Tapeworm eggs (Diphyllobothrium sp.) were observed in 3 coprolites. Eggs of the nematodes Toxocara canis, Trichuris vulpis, and Spirocerca lupi were observed in 3, 2, and 1 coprolites respectively. This constitutes the first report of Diphyllobothrium sp., T. canis, and S. lupi from pre-Columbian dogs in the Americas.
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1 January 2012
Archaeohelminthology of the Chiribaya Shepherd, Canis familiaris (700–1476 a.d.) from Southern Peru
Dennis J. Richardson,
Sonia Guillén,
Ronald Beckett,
Wesley Kyle,
Gerald Conlogue,
Katherine Harper-Beckett
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Comparative Parasitology
Vol. 79 • No. 1
January 2012
Vol. 79 • No. 1
January 2012
archaeohelminthology
Canis familiaris
Chiribaya
Chiribaya shepherd
coprolite
Diphyllobothrium
Peru