Haemosporidian parasite infections of Malagasy Philepittidae and Nectariniidae are driven by phylogeny rather than ecology.

ABSTRACT: The nectarivorous common sunbird asity (Neodrepanis coruscans) is phylogenetically closely related to the frugivorous velvet asity (Philepitta castanea), yet it shares similar habitat and foraging behaviour as the Malagasy sunbirds (Cinnyris spp.). As ecological factors have been shown to influence blood parasite prevalence, it should be tested whether parasite abundance, prevalence and diversity of N. coruscans are more similar to the sunbirds than to its relative. Therefore, blood samples (n = 156) and smears (n = 60) were tested for different blood parasites (Haemosporida, trypanosomes, filarioid nematodes) using molecular and microscopic methods. High prevalence of haemosporidian parasites was observed in all bird taxa, with rates ranging from

SUBMITTER: Barbon H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10941219 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature