''Plasmodium mexicanum'' is a parasite of the genus ''

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vert ...

'' subgenus ''

Paraplasmodium ''Paraplasmodium'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'' - all of which are parasitic eukaryotes. The subgenus was created by Telford in 1988. Species in this subgenus infect lizards. Species *''Plasmodium chiricahuae'' *''Plasmodium mexic ...

''. Like all ''Plasmodium'' species ''P. mexicanum'' has both

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

Taxonomy

The parasite was first described by Thompson and Huff in 1944.Thompson P.E. and Huff C.G. (1944) Saurian malaria parasites of the United States and Mexico. J. Inf. Dis. 74:68–79.

Distribution

This parasite is found in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, United States.

Hosts

This parasite infects the '' Sceloporus ferraripezi'', '' Sceloporus horridus'', '' Sceloporus microlepidotus'', western fence lizard (''

Sceloporus occidentalis The western fence lizard (''Sceloporus occidentalis'') is a common lizard of Arizona, New Mexico, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Northern Mexico, and the surrounding area. As the ventral abdomen of an adult is characteristi ...

''), '' Sceloporus pyrocephalus'', ''

Sceloporus variabilis ''Sceloporus variabilis'', commonly known as the rose-bellied lizard, is a species of lizard which is found from Central America to southern Texas Geographic range ''S. variabilis'' can be found from southern Texas to northern Costa Rica, ofte ...

'', '' Scleroporus torquatus torquatus'' and the tree lizard (''

Urosaurus ornatus ''Urosaurus ornatus'', commonly known as the ornate tree lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The species, which was formerly called sim ...

'').French S.S., Fokidis H.B., Moore M.C. 2008. Variation in stress and innate immunity in the tree lizard (Urosaurus ornatus) across an urban-rural gradient. J Comp Physiol This species is unusual in being able to undergo normal sporogony in psychodid flies ('' Lutzomyia stewarti'' and '' Lutzomyia vexatrix'').

Taxonomy

Distribution

Hosts

References

Further reading