Ectoparasitism and infections in the exoskeletons of large fossil cingulates

Lima, Fábio Cunha Guimarães de; Porpino, Kleberson de Oliveira

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0205656

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Hammond et al ( 2014 ) show T. perforans type lesions in an archaeological context in pygmy armadillo ( Zaedyus pichiy ) osteoderms. Evidence from extinct fossil species shows that similar lesions were made a very long time ago (late Miocene—Tomassini et al, 2016 ; Quaternary—de Lima & Porpino, 2018 ; Nascimento et al, 2020 ). Perea et al ( 2020 ) show, in their figure 5a, an example of a lesion at a triple junction very similar to those which we have found in the present study in their study of insect trace fossils in glyptodonts—an extinct subfamily of heavily armoured, large armadillos.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Fleas and lesions in armadillo osteoderms

et al. 2023

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Armadillos are bitten by several species of flea. Females of the genus Tunga penetrate the epidermis and when in place are fertilised by males, after which the abdomen swells enormously to form a ‘neosome’. Within the penetrans group, T. perforans, makes lesions that perforate the osteoderms within the integument to form ~3 mm diameter cavities occupied by a discoid neosome. We examined these lesions in carapace material from animals which had died in the wild to see whether we could recruit evidence as to how they may be generated, either by the insect or by the host. We studied one species without such lesions, the nine‐banded armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus, and two species with, the greater hairy armadillo Chaetophractus villosus and the southern three‐banded armadillo Tolypeutes matacus, both showing the characteristic ‘flea bite’ holes in the external surfaces of the osteoderms. Samples were studied by three‐dimensional backscattered electron mode scanning electron microscopy and X‐ray microtomography. Both methods showed resorption pit complexes in the external surfaces of the osteoderms characteristic of those made by osteoclasts in active bone resorption. Lesions involved both the syndesmoses (sutures) between adjacent bones and the central regions of the osteoderms. Many lesions showed extensive repair by infilling with new bone. We conclude that the T. perforans neosome creates a local host response which causes bone resorption, creating the space in which it can grow.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Fleas and lesions in armadillo osteoderms

et al. 2023

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“…(Chigoe fleas) 3 Genera 28 Species 0 Subspecies Chigoes embed into and live under host skin with female swelling (neosomy) [81,128]. Even bony plates of armadillos (Cingulata) can be bored through [129]; holes in fossilized osteoderms of extinct glyptodont (Cingulata) were likely caused by Tungidae [130][131][132][133].…”

Section: Tungidaementioning

confidence: 99%

Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity

Bossard,

Lareschi,

Urdapilleta

et al. 2023

Preprint

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This overview of extant Siphonaptera lists 19 families with major hosts and general distribution, estimated numbers of genera, species, and subspecies, with a brief taxonomic and phylogenetic review. With around 10 new species described annually, global flea fauna has an estimated extant 249 genera, 2215 species, and 714 subspecies, mostly mammal parasites but 5% of species are on birds. Host specificity varies from euryxenous (i.e. infesting two or more host orders)(e.g. cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis felis) to monoxenous (e.g. rabbit fleas, Spilopsyllus cuniculi) . The largest family is the paraphyletic Hystrichopsyllidae, making up a third of all flea species. The largest monophyletic family, Ceratophyllidae (rodent and bird fleas), comprise another 20%, and has dispersed to every continent including Antarctica. Fleas descend from scorpionflies (Mecoptera), possibly snow scorpionflies (Boreidae) or Nannochoristidae, and even giant fossils found from the Mesozoic could be Siphonaptera. Flea diversification shows evidence of taxon cycles: "Relict" families such as helmet fleas (Stephanocircidae) have a disjunct distribution reflecting the breakup of Gondwanaland, 70 million years ago. "Niche specialists" include nest fleas (Anomiopsyllus), bat fleas (Ischnopsyllidae), and burrowing fleas, the chigoes (Tungidae). By contrast, Ceratophyllidae fleas could be considered "great speciators". Cat fleas and several other synanthropic flea species are invasive "supertramps". Although those species are intensively studied, many flea species and their hosts require urgent surveys and conservation.

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“…Some works have recorded pathologies in cingulate osteoderms, most notably lesions caused by flea parasitism in Chaetophractus vellerosus, C. villosus, Tolypeutes matacus, Zaedyus pichiy, Euphractus sexcinctus, and Priodontes maximus (Ezquiaga et al, 2015(Ezquiaga et al, , 2020; Chasicotatus ameghinoi and Vetelia perforata (Tomassini et al, 2016), Glyptotherium sp., Panochthus sp. and Pachyarmatherium brasiliense (Lima & Porpino, 2018), Neuryurus sp. (Perea et al, 2019), Holmesina cryptae (Nascimento et al, 2020;Moura et al, 2021), and Chaetophractus villosus, Tolypeutes matacus (Boyde et al, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other types of lesions, such as infections caused by fungi or bacteria, have been reported for Panochthus sp. (Barbosa & Luna, 2014;Lima & Porpino, 2018), Glyptotherium sp., Pachyarmatherium brasiliense (Lima & Porpino, 2018), and Holmesina cryptae (Moura et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New exoskeletal material from Bahia provides new evidence of geographic distribution and paleopathology for Quaternary cingulates

Pales,

Porpino,

Scherer

2023

Rev. bras. paleontol.

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The Cingulata clade has a great taxonomic diversity, and its remains are abundantly found in the fossil record of South America, represented mainly by elements from the exoskeleton. Most of the work on cingulate fossils from the Brazilian Quaternary is restricted to taxonomy, while studies on paleobiology, including pathological aspects, are still scarce. This paper describes new exoskeletal specimens and paleopathological evidence for cingulates from Quaternary deposits in Bahia State, Brazil, among the identified taxa (Pachyarmatheriumbrasiliense, Tolypeutes cf. tricinctus, Propraopussulcatus, Glyptotherium sp., Neuryurus sp., Panochthus sp., Hoplophorus cf. euphractus, Pampatheriumhumboldtii, and Holmesina paulacoutoi). Neuryurus is recorded for the first time in the Quaternary of Bahia. Skin lesions, possibly caused by fungi or bacteria, are identified for Panochthus sp. and Glyptotherium sp. In addition, we identified lesions caused by fleas in Glyptotherium sp. These findings underscore disharmonious interspecific relationships involving microorganisms and parasites with glyptodonts, aligning with previous research conclusions. Keywords: Paleobiology, Paleopathology, Cingulata, Quaternary.

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Ectoparasitism and infections in the exoskeletons of large fossil cingulates

Cited by 12 publications

References 32 publications

Fleas and lesions in armadillo osteoderms

Fleas and lesions in armadillo osteoderms

Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity

New exoskeletal material from Bahia provides new evidence of geographic distribution and paleopathology for Quaternary cingulates

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