%0 Journal Article
%A Perri, Angela R.
%A Heinrich, S.
%A Gur-Arieh, Shira
%A Saunders, J. J.
%+ Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
Max Planck Research Group on Plant Foods in Hominin Dietary Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
%T Earliest evidence of Toxocara sp. in a 1.2-million-yr-old extinct hyena (Pachycrocuta brevirostris) coprolite from Northwest Pakistan : 
%G eng
%U https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-002C-9494-E
%R 10.1645/16-71
%D 2017
%* Review method: peer-reviewed
%X The study of fossil parasites can provide insight into the antiquity of host-parasite relationships and the origins and evolution of these paleoparasites. Here, a coprolite (fossilized feces) from the 1.2-million-year-old paleontological site of Haro River Quarry in northwestern Pakistan was analyzed for paleoparasites. Micromorphological thin sectioning and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) analysis confirms the coprolite belonged to a bone-eating carnivore, likely the extinct giant short-faced hyena (Pachycrocuta brevirostris). Parasitological analysis shows the coprolite to be positive for Toxocara sp. To our knowledge, this is the earliest evidence for Toxocara sp. found.
%J Journal of Parasitology
%V 103
%N 1
%& 138
%P 138 - 141
%I Allen Press Agency Services
%@ 1937-2345