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Inside the Bizarre World of Natures Most Dangerous Creatures PDF Book Parasitology Adds a Mind-Blowing Dimension to Ecology PARASITE REX: INSIDE THE BIZARRE WORLD OF NATURES MOST DANGEROUS CREATURES PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Carl Zimmer | 320 pages | 14 Jan 2002 | Simon & Schuster Ltd | 9780743200110 | English | London, United Kingdom Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Natures Most Dangerous Creatures PDF Book Parasitology adds a mind-blowing dimension to ecology. How could Stunkard have had anything but fast-breeding welfare families in mind? But then Carl Zimmer took it from the close to home sickness parasites can inflict on a human body to a fascinating journey into the world of parasites - what they are, where they come from, where we find them, how they evolved and adapt to their chosen niche, the fine balance between getting the most out of their host without tipping the scales and killing it outright, the role they play in keeping populations in check and in keeping ecosystems healthy. Yet another can convert your gender as it begins colonizing you? To ask other readers questions about Parasite Rex , please sign up. In this book a master scientist tells the story of how life on earth evolved. Published November 9th by Atria Books first published January 1st Without parasitic worms exerting their influence over our immune system, it may be prone to overreacting to things like harmless bits of cat dander and mould. Indians who lived in the rainforest: None of them had allergies. We have the same sorts of bodies as our parents did at our age, as do salmon or muskrats or spiders. May 31, Emily rated it it was amazing Shelves: science-geek , non-fiction. There are pieces of genes scattered, but only in the female adult wasp, and only in certain cells of the ovary, these pieces are cut out of the DNA and sewn together as awakened viral DNA and reproduced with protein shells, to ship out with the eggs. Like Cymothoa exigua , a crustacean that replaces a fish's tongue, or Sacculina , a barnacle-like parasite that uses a crab like a puppet. The universal cure for guinea worm was to rest for a week, slowly winding the worm turn by turn onto a stick to keep it alive until it had crawled free. The new little worms took many shapes — of frogs, of scorpions, of lizards. The larvae then make sure to leave the main organs of the host intact, so that it is kept alive until they have had the time to mature. Without understanding parasites, humans had made big mistakes by eradicating crucial parasites or bringing alien parasites to new lands. Indeed, these tiny structures inside our cells are important beyond imagining. Not only are parasites not all bad, Zimmer concludes in this exemplary work of popular science, but we may be parasites, too-and we have a lot to learn from them about how to manage earth, the host we share. But the Greeks already knew of biological parasites. They go through multiple metamorphoses and follow quite a complica "The wise learn many things from their enemies. Parasites eluded study for a long time not just because the majority are extremely small - but also because of their highly complex life cycles, often requiring 2 or more hosts of different species to complete its cycle. Wilson eloquently describes how the species of the world became diverse and why that diversity is threatened tod… More. Writing in , Stunkard represented a dying gasp of the old take on evolution. Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Natures Most Dangerous Creatures Writer The book then covers how parasites invade their hosts, showing that by sensing the environment and reacting appropriately, parasites can get into the hosts bodies and find their way to the correct places to feed, reproduce and create eggs. These creatures have such complex lives it took scientists decades to work out their life cycles. There he could see more creatures — a blob with leglike things that it used to crawl like a wood louse, eel-shaped creatures that would swim like a fish in water. A marvel of pop science. Lankester is given a specific focus and repeated discussion throughout the book due to his belief that parasites are examples of degenerative evolution , especially in regards to Sacculina , and Zimmer's repeated refutation of this idea. Parasites, most scientists assumed, must have been spontaneously generated in bodies, just as maggots appeared spontaneously on a corpse, fungus on old hay, insects from within trees. The book opens with a story when he was visiting a hospital full of kids suffering from "sleeping sickness" which can be fatal, and causes extreme duress. Parasites are complex, highly adapted creatures that are at the heart of the story of life. He made the people around him feel small in both size and mind; he reminded one man who met him of a winged Assyrian beast. Considering there have been 2, different parasites identified in one small location. Some of the parasites have o One of the best non-fiction books I've read in years. There were the prokaryotes — the bacteria — and the eukaryotes: protozoa, animals, plants, and fungi. Listen to Carl defend the honor of parasites on Radiolab. A creature that has withstood climate changes, natural and man made disasters and cutting edge medical developments. There's certainly no danger you'll fall asleep reading, though there is a real danger you'll have nightmares once you do. Retrieved February 29, Name required. In mapping the parasite universe, Zimmer makes the astonishing observation that most species are parasites, and that almost every animal, including humans, will at one time or another become the home of a parasite. But then Carl Zimmer took it from the close to home sickness parasites can inflict on a human body to a fascinating journey into the world of parasites - what they are, where they come from, where we find them, how they evolved and adapt to their chosen niche, the fine balance between getting the most out of their host without tipping the scales and killing it outright, the role they play in keeping populations in check and in keeping ecosystems healthy. An engrossing, lively history of a fearsome and misunderstood virus that binds man and dog. Time after time in the history of life, free-living organisms had surrendered their liberty to become parasites in exchange for an escape from the dangers of life. And it may appear that the evolution of parasites may have driven the evolution of hosts, forcing them to constantly evolve to evade the parasites and, possibly, even driving the evolution of sex. Did I really want to read a book describing the disgusting things a parasite can do to my body? If they did, they would be amply rewarded by natural selection for any mutation that caused less harm to their new host. Chiefly, according to Zimmer, parasites have been influencing the path of evolution since the first single-celled organism got itself commandeered by a bacterium over three billion years ago, so much so that, because a host relies on variability in its species as a mode of defense against them, parasites may even be responsible for the invention of sex. Lankester grew up with evolution. In the s he contemplated the mystery of flukes, whose leaf-shaped bodies could be found in almost any animals a parasitologist cared to look at — in the livers of sheep, in the brains of fish, in the guts of birds. They moved through the snail, feeding and rearing within them yet another generation of flukes — the missile-tailed cercariae. The book starts with initial theories of parasites: people observed them thru the centuries but they posed a problem: never found in their final form outside the body, are they an integral part of an organism or invaders? Additionally, many historically have regarded parasites as being degenerate, devolved organisms. Specialists in tropical medicine went on struggling against their own parasites, often with a staggering lack of success. According to one estimate, parasites may outnumber free-living species four to one. It doesnt help that the author is decent at creating visuals, "she jabs a long hollow dagger through one of the holes, and through it squirts hundreds of eggs". He explains science in a way that I think is very accessible and interesting to non-scientists. The sinister Sacculina carcini makes its home in an unlucky crab and proceeds to eat everything but what the crab needs to put food in its mouth, which Sacculina then consumes. Books portal Literature portal. Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Natures Most Dangerous Creatures Reviews One of the best non-fiction books I've read in years. Parasitology adds a mind-blowing dimension to ecology. The dependent animal is proverbially looking for the easy way. The initial set of chapters are extremely high on the 'yuck' factor. This book is a highly entertaining creep show, for sure, and one you're unlikely ever to forget. Now award-winning writer Carl Zimmer takes us on a fantastic voyage into the secret parasite u… More. However that was not a case. They moved through the snail, feeding and rearing within them yet another generation of flukes — the missile-tailed cercariae. Here's a sentence I didnt like reading, "Most human beings have one or more parasites living on them or in them. But this was rare and minor. Guinea worms love our gut. In , the visible parasites were joined by a zoo of invisible ones. Once parasites gave up their freedom, they rarely managed to regain it; instead, they channeled their energies into making new generations of parasites.
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