Haemoproteus parasites and passerines: the effect of local generalists on inferences of host-parasite co-phylogeny in the British Isles.

ABSTRACT: Host–parasite associations provide a benchmark for investigating evolutionary arms races and antagonistic coevolution. However, potential ecological mechanisms underlying such associations are difficult to unravel. In particular, local adaptations of hosts and/or parasites may hamper reliable inferences of host–parasite relationships and the specialist–generalist definitions of parasite lineages, making it problematic to understand such relationships on a global scale. Phylogenetic methods were used to investigate co-phylogenetic patterns between vector-borne parasites of the genus Haemoproteus and their passeriform hosts, to infer the ecological interactions of parasites and hosts that may have driven the evolution of both groups in a local geographic domain. As several Haemopro

SUBMITTER: Woodrow C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10941225 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature