''Plasmodium paranucleophilum'' 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 ''

Novyella ''Novyella'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'' - all of which are parasites. The subgenus was created in 1963 by Corradetti ''et al.'' Species in this subgenus infect birds. It unites the avian malaria parasites with small erythrocytic m ...

''. As in all ''Plasmodium'' species, ''P. paranucleophilum'' 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

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

Taxonomy

The parasite was first described by Manwell and Sessler in 1971.Manwell R. D. and Sessler G. J. (1971) ''Plasmodium paranucleophilum'' n. sp. from a South American tanager. J. Protozool. 18(4):629-632.

Distribution

This species was described in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Hosts

The only known host is a

tanager The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotropica ...

('' Tachyphonus'' species).

References

paranucleophilum Parasites of birds {{plasmodium-stub