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Ancient parasites from endemic deer from “CUEVA PARQUE DIANA” archeological site, Patagonia, Argentina

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Abstract

The narrow Andean-Patagonian temperate rainforest strip in the west of southern South America is inhabited by two endemic species of cervids, the southern pudu (Pudu puda) and the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), both cataloged as near threatened and threatened species, respectively. One of the possible causes of their declined number is the susceptibility to livestock diseases. Significant zooarchaeological records of both deer have been found throughout the Holocene from Patagonia. The present contribution reports the first paleoparasitological results obtained from coprolites of endemic deer from the archeological site “Cueva Parque Diana,” Neuquén Province, Argentina, and discusses the possible diseases found in ancient times. Thirty-four coprolites were fully processed, rehydrated, homogenized, sieved, subjected to spontaneous sedimentation, and examined by light microscopy. Thirty samples contained parasite remains. The presence of diverse parasitic diseases such as trematodioses, metastrongylosis, trichuriosis, strongylida gastroenteritis, dioctophymosis, and coccidiosis which could cause diseases in deer previous to the arrival of European livestock and the presence of zoonotic diseases in the hunters-gatherers and fishermen are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Paleoparasitología y Arqueología Contextual, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Juan B. Justo 2550, 7600 Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    María Ornela Beltrame, Eleonor Tietze, Agustín Bellusci & Norma Haydée Sardella

  2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    María Ornela Beltrame, Eleonor Tietze & Norma Haydée Sardella

  3. Grupo de Ecología y Paleoecología de Ambientes Continentales, Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Juan B. Justo 2550, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Eleonor Tietze

  4. Departamento de Antropología, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Campus San Francisco, Temuco, Región de La Araucanía, Chile

    Alberto Enrique Pérez

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  1. María Ornela Beltrame
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  2. Eleonor Tietze
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  3. Alberto Enrique Pérez
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  4. Agustín Bellusci
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  5. Norma Haydée Sardella
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Correspondence to María Ornela Beltrame.

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Beltrame, M.O., Tietze, E., Pérez, A.E. et al. Ancient parasites from endemic deer from “CUEVA PARQUE DIANA” archeological site, Patagonia, Argentina. Parasitol Res 116, 1523–1531 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-017-5429-7

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