Population concepts

Abstract

If the ecology of parasitic organisms is considered in its broadest form, then it has a long history, extending back to the middle of the 19th century when the connection between cysticerci and adult taeniid cestodes was identified by Dujardin in 1845, and when the life cycle of the canine tapeworm, Taenia pisiformis, was experimentally completed by Kuchenmeister in 1852. These discoveries were matched, if not exceeded, later in the century by Manson who described the life cycle of Wuchereria bancrofti in 1877 and by Ross who reported the life cycle of avian malaria in 1895; Sir Ronald Ross eventually was to receive one of the first Nobel prizes in physiology in recognition of this exceptional research achievement.