Parasitism is one of the most common life strategies in the animal kingdom, and at least 20% of animal species are parasites of other organisms.
There are taxa composed only of parasitic beings, such as viruses and acanthocephali (parasitic worms). These types of organisms live at the expense of other living things, either for their entire life or for a short period of time.
- In this article by Animal Expert we will learn the meaning of parasitism.
- The different types that exist.
- In addition to understanding the pros and cons of this lifestyle and some examples.
Parasitism is a type of symbiosis in which one of the organisms involved (host) is harmed, i.e. it does not benefit and also suffers from the relationship.On the other hand, the parasite finds its way of survival in this relationship.This type of relationship continues until one of the two individuals (parasite or host) dies.
In this relationship, each member belongs to a different species, the parasite must live in the host to obtain food, often genetic material for the creation of its own proteins, and also finds its habitat in the host, without which it could not live..
For all these reasons, parasites are organisms that need a close and continuous relationship with a host (of another species), which provides food, enzymes or digestive materials and stimulates it to grow or reproduce.
There are several ways to classify parasites, here are the most well-known or used:
Taxonomic classification: taxonomic, parasites are classified as phytoparasis when parasitized plants and zooparasites when infecting animals.In parasitology, a science that studies parasites, only zooparasites are treated.
Classification based on host parasite dependency level
Classification based on the location of the parasite within the host
Classification according to the period during which the parasite keeps the host parasitic:
Initially, animals that we know today as parasites had a free lifestyle in the past, the fact that at some point in evolution these animals have acquired a parasitic lifestyle, makes us think that they should receive some kind of benefits.
The first benefit that parasites find is that of habitat, the animals have mechanisms to maintain homeostasis in their bodies, which gives the parasite the opportunity to live in an environment with virtually no fluctuations.
On the other hand, they have an easy way to quickly distribute their offspring in large areas.For example, if the parasite releases eggs through its host’s faeces, it ensures that its offspring grow elsewhere.For a parasite, food is always close, and available because it feeds on the host itself or some of the food it eats.
Not everything is an advantage for parasitic animals.Living in one body means that parasitic counterparts are far away, both in space and time, because they will live in other guests, so it is necessary to look for sexual reproduction strategies to combine genetic material.
As a general rule, guests do not want to be parasitized, so they will be hostile to parasites and will try to get rid of them at all costs, for example grooming.In addition, the host can die, so the habitat does.it won’t last forever.
In this section, we show some of the most well-known and common parasitic relationships, many of which are also zoonotic.
If you would like to read articles similar to, we recommend that you visit our Curiosities section of the animal world.