''Plasmodium marginatum'' 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 blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vert ...

'' subgenus ''

Sauramoeba ''Sauramoeba'' is a subgenus of the genus ''Plasmodium'', all of which are parasitic eukaryotes. The subgenus was created in 1966 by Garnham. Species in this subgenus infect reptiles. Description The original criterion for inclusion in this ...

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

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxon, taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with vertebral column, backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the ...

and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

hosts. The vertebrate hosts for this parasite are reptiles.

Taxonomy

The parasite was first described by Telford in 1979.Telford SR Jr. (1979) A taxonomic reconsideration of some ''Plasmodium'' species from iguanid lizards. Ann. Parasitol. Hum. Comp. 54(2):129-144 This species had previously been considered to be '' Plasmodium tropiduri''.

Description

All stages tend to lie along the erythrocyte margin. While mature schizonts appear to be like flattened fans with 3 to 8 merozoites, immature schizonts are highly amoeboid. Gametocytes are smaller than erythrocyte nuclei.

Distribution

This species is found in Central America and South America.

Hosts

The only known host is the

anole Dactyloidae are a family of lizards commonly known as anoles () and native to warmer parts of the Americas, ranging from southeastern United States to Paraguay. Instead of treating it as a family, some authorities prefer to treat it as a subfami ...

lizard '' Anolis frenatus''.

References

marginatum {{plasmodium-stub