''Plasmodium brodeni'' is a parasite of the genus ''

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a Hematophagy, blood-feeding insect host (biology), host which then inj ...

'' subgenus ''

Vinckeia ''Vinckeia'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'' — all of which are parasitic Alveolata, alveolates. The subgenus ''Vinckeia'' was created by Cyril Garnham in 1964 to accommodate the mammalian parasites other than those infecting the prim ...

''. As in all ''Plasmodium'' species, ''P. brodeni'' has both

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

Taxonomy

The parasite was first described by Rodhain ''at al.'' in 1913.

Distribution

This species is found in the Congo, Sudan and probably in other parts of Africa.

Hosts

The only known host is the

elephant shrew Elephant shrews, also called jumping shrews or sengis, are small insectivore, insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order (biology), order Macroscelidea. Their traditional common English name "ele ...

('' Petrodomus'' and ''

Elephantulus ''Elephantulus'' is a genus of elephant shrew in the family Macroscelididae. It contains the following species: * Short-snouted elephant shrew (''E. brachyrhynchus'') * Cape elephant shrew (''E. edwardii'') * Dusky-footed elephant shrew (''E. f ...

'' species).Heisch RB (1954) Presence of ''Plasmodium brodeni'' in elephant shrews (''Elephantulu'' sp). East Afr. Med. J. 31(6):263-264

Taxonomy

Distribution

Hosts

References

Further reading