Piroplasms, tick-transmitted Apicomplexa of the genera Theileria, Babesia and Cytauxzoon, are blood-borne parasites of clinical and veterinary importance. The order Piroplasmida shows a puzzling systematics characterized by multiple clades, soft polytomies and paraphyletic/polyphyletic genera. In the present study, screening of platypuses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), was performed to infer the parasite molecular phylogeny. DNA was extracted from blood, ectoparasites and tick eggs and the 18S rRNA- hsp70-genes were used for the phylogenetic reconstructions. Microscopic analyses detected pleomorphic intra-erythrocytic organisms and tetrads consistent with previous descriptions of Theileria ornithorhynchi Mackerras, 1959, but observation of possible schizonts could not be confirmed. DNA sequences obtained from blood and ticks allowed resolving the systematics of the first piroplasm infecting a monotreme host. Molecularly, T. ornithorhynchi formed a novel monophyletic group, basal to most known piroplasms' clades. The ancestral position of this clade, isolated from an ancient lineage of mammalian host appears particularly fascinating. The present paper discusses the inadequacies of the current molecular systematics for the Piroplasmida and the consequences of incomplete sampling, morphology-based classification and ambiguous microscopic identifications. Likely when the current sampling bias is rectified and more sequence data is made available, the phylogenetic position of T. ornithorhynchi will be further contextualized without ambiguity.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 08 September 2016.
All research outputs
#15,740,505
of 25,374,917 outputs
Outputs from Protist
#453
of 624 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#151,658
of 294,223 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Protist
#4
of 11 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,374,917 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 37th percentile – i.e., 37% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 624 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.1. This one is in the 25th percentile – i.e., 25% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 294,223 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 47th percentile – i.e., 47% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 11 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 54% of its contemporaries.
