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Ctenodactylus Gundi
The common gundi (''Ctenodactylus gundi'') is a species of rodent in the family Ctenodactylidae. It is found in Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. The parasitic organism ''Toxoplasma gondii'' was first described in 1908 in Tunis by Charles Nicolle and Louis Manceaux within the tissues of the gundi. Description The common gundi grows to a length of between , having a stumpy tail of . A gundi weighs about . It resembles a guinea pig in appearance, having big eyes, flat ears and short limbs. Each foot has four digits and sharp, dark claws; the two hind feet have comblike bristles between the claws. Gundi's teeth are rootless. Distribution This gundi is found in northern Africa on the south side of the Atlas Mountains at altitudes up to about . Its range extends from western Libya through Tunisia and Algeria to eastern Morocco. Ecology and biology Gundis are diurnal and herbivorous. It lives in rocky, arid places, making its home in crevices and under boulders. These homes a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Göran Rothman
Göran (Georg) Rothman (30 November 1739, in Husebybruk, Småland, Sweden – 3 December 1778, in Stockholm), was a Swedish naturalist, physician and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. His father, Johan Stensson Rothman, was a teacher of Logic and Physics at a grammar school in Växjö, the same school that Carl von Linne attended. Their good relationship dated back to that period. Göran Rothman studied at Uppsala University from 1757 and graduated under Carl von Linne. On 27 May 1763 he defended a dissertation on the disease ''Raphania'' ( ergotism), thought by Linnaeus to be caused by eating bread from freshly harvested grain and wrongly ascribed to the presence of seed of ''Raphanus raphanistrum'' L., the common radish. In 1765 he carried out research in Åland and from 1773 to 1776 in Libya and Tunisia. On his return he practised as physician in Stockholm. He was notable for his translations of Voltaire (1694–1778) and Alexander Pope (1688–1744) into Swedish. The plan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leishmania
''Leishmania'' is a parasitic protozoan, a single-celled organism of the genus '' Leishmania'' that are responsible for the disease leishmaniasis. They are spread by sandflies of the genus ''Phlebotomus'' in the Old World, and of the genus ''Lutzomyia'' in the New World. At least 93 sandfly species are proven or probable vectors worldwide.WHO (2010) Annual report. Geneva Their primary hosts are vertebrates; ''Leishmania'' commonly infects hyraxes, canids, rodents, and humans. History Members of an ancient genus of the ''Leishmania'' parasite, ''Paleoleishmania'', have been detected in fossilized sand flies dating back to the early Cretaceous period. The first written reference to the conspicuous symptoms of cutaneous leishmaniasis surfaced in the Paleotropics within oriental texts dating back to the 7th century BC (allegedly transcribed from sources several hundred years older, between 1500 and 2000 BC). Due to its broad and persistent prevalence throughout antiquity as a mys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ctenodactylus
''Ctenodactylus'' is a genus of rodent in the family Ctenodactylidae (comb rats or gundis). It encompasses the common gundi (''C. gundi'') and the closely related species Val's gundi Val's gundi (''Ctenodactylus vali'') is a species of rodent in the family Ctenodactylidae. It is known from two widely separated areas of North Africa. Description Val's gundi is very similar to the other species of gundi, especially the common ... (''C. vali''). References * Dieterlen, F. 2005. Family Ctenodactylidae pp. 1536-1537 ''in'' D. E. Wilson and M. A. Reeder, eds. ''Mammal Species of the World'', 3rd edition, p. 1536. Rodent genera Mammals described in 1830 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{rodent-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Least-concern Species
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. They do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, or (before 2001) conservation dependent. Species cannot be assigned the "Least Concern" category unless they have had their population status evaluated. That is, adequate information is needed to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution or population status. Evaluation Since 2001 the category has had the abbreviation "LC", following the IUCN 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1). Before 2001 "least concern" was a subcategory of the "Lower Risk" category and assigned the code "LR/lc" or lc. Around 20% of least concern taxa (3261 of 15636) in the IUCN database still use the code "LR/lc", which indicates they have not been re-evaluate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Union For Conservation Of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable". Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to sustainable development in its projects. IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation. It tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice and through building partnerships. The organization is best known to the wider pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Val's Gundi
Val's gundi (''Ctenodactylus vali'') is a species of rodent in the family Ctenodactylidae. It is known from two widely separated areas of North Africa. Description Val's gundi is very similar to the other species of gundi, especially the common gundi, with grey, soft, silky fur and a resemblance to guinea pigs. They have rounded ears; round eyes; stocky, blunt nosed bodies; short legs; short necks; and short, furry tails. Distribution Val's gundi is found in two isolated populations. The western population occurs in northeastern Morocco but with the main part of the population in adjacent parts of northwestern Algeria, in the Oued Guir, Oued Zouzfana and Oued Saoura, with the most southernly record from Kerzaz in Algeria. The eastern population is in northwestern Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural Reservoir
In infectious disease ecology and epidemiology, a natural reservoir, also known as a disease reservoir or a reservoir of infection, is the population of organisms or the specific environment in which an infectious pathogen naturally lives and reproduces, or upon which the pathogen primarily depends for its survival. A reservoir is usually a living host of a certain species, such as an animal or a plant, inside of which a pathogen survives, often (though not always) without causing disease for the reservoir itself. By some definitions a reservoir may also be an environment external to an organism, such as a volume of contaminated air or water. Because of the enormous variety of infectious microorganisms capable of causing disease, precise definitions for what constitutes a natural reservoir are numerous, various, and often conflicting. The reservoir concept applies only for pathogens capable of infecting more than one host population and only with respect to a defined target popula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandfly
Sandfly (or sand fly) is a colloquial name for any species or genus of flying, biting, blood-sucking dipteran (fly) encountered in sandy areas. In the United States, ''sandfly'' may refer to certain horse flies that are also known as "greenheads" (family Tabanidae), or to members of the family Ceratopogonidae. The bites usually result in a small, intensely itchy bump or welt, the strength of which intensifies over a period of 5-7 days before dissipating. Moderate relief is achieved with varying success through the application of over the counter products such as Benadryl (ingested) or an analgesic cream such as After Bite (applied topically). Outside the United States, ''sandfly'' may refer to members of the subfamily Phlebotominae within the Psychodidae. Biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) are sometimes called sandflies or no-see-ums (no-see-em, noseeum). New Zealand sandflies are in the genus ''Austrosimulium'', a type of black fly. In the various sorts of sandfly only the fema ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cutaneous Leishmaniasis
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is the most common form of leishmaniasis affecting humans. It is a skin infection caused by a single-celled parasite that is transmitted by the bite of a phlebotomine sand fly. There are about thirty species of ''Leishmania'' that may cause cutaneous leishmaniasis. This disease is considered to be a zoonosis (an infectious disease that is naturally transmissible from animals to humans), with the exception of ''Leishmania tropica'' — which is often an anthroponotic disease (an infectious disease that is naturally transmissible from humans to vertebrate animals). Signs and symptoms Post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) is a recurrence of kala-azar that may appear on the skin of affected individuals months and up to 20 years after being partially treated, untreated or even in those considered adequately treated. In Sudan, they can be demonstrated in up to 60% of treated cases. They manifest as hypopigmented ski ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protozoa
Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Historically, protozoans were regarded as "one-celled animals", because they often possess animal-like behaviours, such as motility and predation, and lack a cell wall, as found in plants and many algae. When first introduced by Georg Goldfuss (originally spelled Goldfuß) in 1818, the taxon Protozoa was erected as a class within the Animalia, with the word 'protozoa' meaning "first animals". In later classification schemes it was elevated to a variety of higher ranks, including phylum, subkingdom and kingdom, and sometimes included within Protoctista or Protista. The approach of classifying Protozoa within the context of Animalia was widespread in the 19th and early 20th century, but not universal. By the 1970s, it became usual to require th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leishmania Major
''Leishmania major'' is a species of parasite found in the genus ''Leishmania'', and is associated with the disease zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (also known as Aleppo boil, Baghdad boil, Bay sore, Biskra button, Chiclero ulcer, Delhi boil, Kandahar sore, Lahore sore, Oriental sore, Pian bois, and Uta). ''L. major'' is an intracellular pathogen which infects the macrophages and dendritic cells of the immune system. Though ''Leishmania'' species are found on every continent aside from Antarctica, ''Leishmania major'' is found only in the Eastern Hemisphere, specifically in Northern Africa, the Middle East, Northwestern China, and Northwestern India. Biology Life cycle As a trypanosomatid, ''L. major'' begins its lifecycle in amastigote form in the midgut of the main vector, female sand flies ('' Phlebotomus spp.''). Once in the gut of the sand fly, the parasites change from aflagelated amastigotes into flagellated promastigotes for 1–2 weeks until they are fully develop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leishmania Tropica
''Leishmania tropica'' is a flagellate parasite and the cause of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in humans. This parasite is restricted to Afro-Eurasia and is a common cause of infection in Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Algeria, Morocco, and northern India. History The first description of ''Leishmania tropica'' was done in 1903 by James Homer Wright, an American pathologist. In 1914, it was suggested that ''L. tropica'' should be divided into two subspecies, namely ''L. tropica minor'' and ''L. tropica major'', based on the size of the parasites found in skin lesions. Later, these two subspecies turned out to be epidemiologically different and were correlated to different types of lesions. ''L. tropica minor'' causes dry nodular lesions in urban environments, while ''L. tropica major'' causes wet ulcerating lesions in rural regions. Bray et al. therefore proposed in 1973 that the subspecies should be considered as two separate species, ''L. tropica major'' became '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
