![]() Most rats, and humans, show an aversion to the smell of cat urine. paradoxum, by causing reckless behavior in intermediate rat hosts. gondii operates in a similar fashion to L. This parasite is a protozoan that can infect any warm-blooded animal, but its definitive host, where it sexually reproduces, is the household cat. But a human zombie apocalypse is actually closer to reality than one would think: enter Toxoplasma gondii. The idea of mind-controlling parasites is creepy, but falls short of horrifying when compared to all the other macabre phenomenon of the natural world. The eggs escape via discharge, and the cycle begins anew.Ĭheck out this video of the pulsating brood sacs: While the avian rectum may not seem very romantic, it’s the perfect environment for the Leucochloridium to reproduce and lay eggs. The parasites also influence the snails to abandon their usual cautious, light-averse behavior, so they venture out into the open where they are more likely to be spotted by a hungry bird.įinally, the tentacles are consumed and release the larvae into the bird’s digestive system. Once the larvae reach the snail’s eye tentacles, they form massive brood sacs that transform the tentacles into a brilliant, pulsating advertisement that birds simply can’t resist. Little does the snail know that the droppings come with a side of Leucochloridium eggs, which hatch and spread throughout its body. The flatworm begins its life when an unsuspecting garden snail eats bird droppings, a typical gastropod breakfast. One particularly gruesome example is Leucochloridium paradoxum, a parasitic flatworm that infects snails. This overrides the host’s normally complex behaviors with simple instructions that will ultimately benefit the parasite, and help it move onto the next stage in its life cycle. So how does an enterprising young parasite manipulate its host into going against all instincts and seeking, rather than avoiding, being eaten? After infiltrating their host, these parasites make their way to the brain and meddle with normal neurological responses to neurotransmitters, which are chemicals that convey messages between neurons and muscles. ![]() SEE ALSO: A Painful Mishap Leads to the Discovery of the World’s Only Venomous Frog Parasites that thrive once their hosts are consumed by a natural predator are more successful, and those that can actually cause their host to be eaten pretty much win at the natural selection game. As luck, or rather, evolution, would have it, these successive hosts tend to occupy the same food chain. The strange mind-controlling abilities of these parasites make sense in light of their life histories: they must move from an intermediate host to a final host where they reach maturity and reproduce. Once infected, they transform into shells of their former selves and become slaves to the alien life-forms thriving within them. But you’d be wrong.Ī whole host of parasites rely on an arsenal of chemical and neurological mechanisms that radically alter the behavior of their hosts. As you watch the mindless shuffle and unnatural behavior of zombies on The Walking Dead, you might reassure yourself that such a creature could never exist in reality.
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