Hirudinea Lamarck 1818: Evolutionary origin and taxonomy of the six medicinal leeches (genus Hirudo) known today

Abstract

Two hundred years ago (early 1819), the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (1744-1829) lost his eyesight and had to cope with poverty over the last decade of his life. In the previous year (1818), Lamarck had introduced the term "Hirudinea", and described all the leech species known at that time in one of his books. Here, we recount the life and achievements of Lamarck with reference to leeches of the genus Hirudo. We document the evolutionary origin (somewhere in Asia, ca. 15 to 20 million years ago), occurrence, speciation patterns, systematics and practical application of these parasitic annelids. It is concluded that Lamarck's pioneering work on the systematics of invertebrates provided a solid basis for a research program into the evolutionary biology and physiology of these important model organisms.

Vol:37 Issue:3

“…As an advantage, peat has the highest numbers of cocoons and offspring for leech reproduction even though the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Natural behaviour of medicinal leeches to deposit their cocoons dark, damp places into moist soil on terrestrial habitat (Kutschera and Roth, 2006;Kutschera and Shain, 2019). Cocoons initially surronded by a foamy substance then take the final solid form (Saidel et al, 2018) like an egg covered by thin sponge.…”

Cellulitis Caused by Hirudo orientalis Bites That Lead to an Allergic reaction

“…and histamine in leech saliva in the case of leech biting [ 2 ]. Leeches belong to the phylum Annelida and the class Clitellata [ 3 ]. Their bodies are muscular and pigmented, with a tough cuticle, suckers at both ends, hard jaws, and a muscular pharynx.…”