Parasitic organisms account for a large portion of living species. They have arisen on
multiple independent occasions in many phyla, and thus encompass a huge biological …

The family Glossiphoniidae is a diverse and widespread clade of freshwater leeches,
playing a significant role in functioning of aquatic ecosystems. The taxonomy and …

Parasites have evolved independently in numerous animal lineages, and they now make up
a considerable proportion of the biodiversity of life. Not only do they impact humans and …

The evolutionary patterns of divergence of seven euhirudinean families were investigated by
cladistic analysis of 33 euhirudinean species. Oligochaetes, Acanthobdella peledina, and …

A remarkable diversity of life history strategies, geographic distributions, and morphological
characters provide a rich substrate for investigating the evolutionary relationships of …

Long-term specialization may limit the ability of a species to respond to new environmental
conditions and lead to a higher likelihood of extinction. For permanent parasites and other …

The phylogenetic relationships of Glossiphoniidae, a leech family characterised by its high
degree of parental care, were investigated with the combined use of morphological data and …

Many evolution of development labs study organisms that must be periodically collected
from the wild. Whenever this is the case, there is the risk that different field collections will …

The relationships, as well as identification of species, within Helobdella (Glossiphoniidae)
were explored through phylogenetic analysis and through an overview of the historical …

Although medicinal leeches have long been used as treatment for various ailments because
of their potent anticoagulation factors, neither the full diversity of salivary components that …