Interbreeding of Neanderthals & Modern humans

[Barry M. OConnor]

At 9:49 AM -0500 10/21/04, Vince Smith wrote:

>Regarding other human parasites, there are in fact four additional
>parasite taxa that have closely related taxonomic pairs infecting
>humans. These are tapeworms, follicle mites, a protozoan and bedbugs.
...
Before going too far with this, I'm unaware of any modern phylogenetic
study that suggests the two species of Demodex mites occurring on humans
are particularly closely related. Species in this genus occur on all
mammalian groups (cetaceans excepted?). Being endoparasites, Demodex mites
have little to work with in the way of morphology, so it's up to some
molecular analysis to answer this question. - Barry

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So many mites, so little time!
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Barry M. OConnor
Professor & Curator             phone: (734) 763-4354
Museum of Zoology               FAX: (734) 763-4080
University of Michigan          e-mail: bmoc at umich.edu
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079  USA