Paul Fetters for the Smithsonian Institution The National Parasite Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History holds more than 20 million parasite specimens in connection with information about their geographic distribution and host animals. And 30% of parasitic worms may go extinct following the expected loss of the host species these worms need to survive. Recent research conducted in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History predicts that parasites will lose 5–10% of their biodiversity by 2070 due to habitat loss alone. Rather than a single villain like the “Bug,” parasites are facing several threats, including climate change, habitat loss and extinction of the plant and animal hosts that they rely on. And we must look harder, because parasites face a severe threat that only we can save them from. But we don’t see them until we look harder. Millions of parasitic worms, lice, mites and other species live right in front of our eyes. Parasites are like the Arquillian Galaxy. (Kelly Speer)ĭo you remember the 1997 movie “Men in Black?” It’s the one where Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones play secret agents who have to find and save the extraterrestrial Arquillian Galaxy from the dreaded “Bug.” But all they have to go on is a cryptic message delivered in the dying breaths of an Arquillian royal: “The galaxy is on Orion’s belt.”Īfter spending the entire movie searching the cosmos, the agents realize that what they have been looking for was hidden in plain sight - attached in a tiny marble to the collar of a pet cat named Orion. Very little is known about these ticks and many species are unknown to science. These parasites primarily feed on bats and were collected from bats roosting beneath a Mayan Temple in Belize. Bat ticks ( Ornithodoros) under a microscope.
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