1st Edition

Avian Malaria Parasites and other Haemosporidia

By Gediminas Valkiunas Copyright 2004

    When studying the effects of parasites on natural populations, the avian haematozoa fulfills many of the specifications of an ideal model. Featuring a multitude of tables and illustrations, Avian Malaria Parasites and Other Haemosporidia summarizes more than a century of research on bird haemosporidians. For a long time, bird blood parasites served as important models in studying human diseases. Although now largely replaced, the wealth of data and research remain. With chapters addressing life cycles and morphology, pathogenicity, ultrastructure, geographical distribution, and illustrated keys to all known species of the parasites, this book is a masterful assessment of the biology of bird haemosporidian parasites.

    When studying the effects of parasites on natural populations, the avian haematozoa fulfills many of the specifications of an ideal model. Featuring a multitude of tables and illustrations, Avian Malaria Parasites and Other Haemosporidia summarizes more than a century of research on bird haemosporidians. For a long time, bird blood parasites served as important models in studying human diseases. Although now largely replaced, a wealth of data and research remain. With chapters addressing life cycles and morphology, pathogenicity, ultrastructure, geographical distribution, and illustrated keys to all known species of the parasites, this book is a masterful assessment of the biology of bird haemosporidian parasites.

    Biography

    Gediminas Valkiunas

    ...Although an extremely thorough review, the monograph is not just a compendium brought together by Valkiunas from the publications of others. It includes a remarkable amount of new material derived from his own researches in field and laboratoryit is often information of a challenging, unorthodox kindthe ramifications of this are bound to extend far beyond protozoology and ornithology... - William Hamilton, University of Oxford, UK

    ...Many books have contained chapters summarizing the work on avian parasites, but this book is the first devoted solely to bird Haemosporida, and to encompass both a single author's extensive research and a general reviewThis book is useful for its extensive descriptions of parasites and its wealth of source material on the biology and taxonomic distribution of bird blood parasites... - M. Ali Anwar, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK