Oldest Fossil Showing <i>Plasmodium malaria</i> (IMAGE)

Oregon State University

Oldest Fossil Showing <i>Plasmodium malaria</i>

Caption

This 15- to 20-million-year-old mosquito Culex malariager, was discovered in the Dominican Republic preserved in amber, and is infected with the malarial parasite Plasmodium dominicana. It's the oldest known fossil showing Plasmodium malaria, related to the type that today infects humans.

Credit

(Photo by George Poinar, Jr., courtesy of Oregon State University)

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