Malaria- George Poinar, a researcher from Oregon State University stated that the Malaria may have evolved in the era of Dinosaurs. This study has changed all the existing notions about this fatal tropical disease. The study also suggests that one of the first vertebrate hosts of this fatal disease could be the gigantic Dinosaurs.
Poinar also pointed out that Malaria could be one of the major reasons for the extinction of the Dinosaurs.
Malaria is a tropical disease of human and can infect animals ranging from mammals to birds to reptiles, which is caused by the mosquito bite. The disease might have begun in the insects more than 100 million years ago. Malaria first started as a parasite in birds then it spread out in colonised bats, and then to other animals.
It is thought to be a modern generation disease. This disease caused by parasitic protozoan belongs to plasmodium group. This disease is commonly spread infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
The sexual reproductions stage of the microbe that causes malaria takes place only in insects; hence they are the primary carriers of the disease. The study published in the journal American Entomologist reveals that a Protozoan parasite group, Gregarinida, could have been the ancestors of malaria as they affect the hosts of malaria. The study further makes one understand the origin, life-cycle, mutation, evolution and much more about the microbe that causes malaria.
