Scientists discovered a new leech species, which had been firstly discovered in Peru in 2007. The leech with one row of large teeth, was discovered when it had to be pulled out of a girl’s nose after bathing in a river in Peru. A doctor in Lima called Dr. Renzo Arauco-Brown who pulled the leech out of the girls nose, send it after preservation to the United States of America. According to scientific research it became clear that the leech prefers to live in body orifices of humans and animals. The name that it was given after research is the tyrant leech king, Tyrannobdella rex.
“The DNA analysis also revealed "evolutionary relationships" between leeches that now inhabit distant regions. This suggested that a common ancestor of this group may have lived when the continents were pressed together into a single land mass or supercontinent called Pangaea.” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8623332.stm)
My first reaction to this story is that it’s quite disgusting to find something like that up your nose. According to the website Plos one where I went to get some more detailed information on the subject, the leeches prefer to suck on human blood. The website also explains that there are several other leech species in Asia and Africa to have the same effect as this one. I was stunned when I read it was found up a girl’s nose. Though it is not a typical item that is found in the UK, I thought it was worth mentioning when I found it on the BBC website.
BBC website item: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8623332.stm
Additional information Plos one: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010057
No comments:
Post a Comment