CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The specificity is one of the main features of parasites. The founding of highly specific parasite species can offer information on their hosts. Also, the host specificity describes patterns of current association that can reflect the macroevolutive history. The host specificity of the Syphaciini (Oxyurida) nematode parasites of American Muroidea (Rodentia) was analyzed in this study. On the other hand, with the aim of distinguishing possible evolutionary events, the taxonomic-ecological knowledge and the results of specificity of Syphaciini found in Argentina were integrated with the phylogeny of the Akodontini rodents. The small scale analysis considered in this study allowed suggesting that the high host specificity of Syphaciini can be related with their limited dispersion ability, direct life cycle, transmission to family level, and high abundances and prevalences, benefiting to the co-especiation processes. The study of Akodontini rodents showed possible evolutionary events that can be found between sigmodontine rodent and Syphaciini nematodes observing that these parasites accompany the diversification of their hosts. As regarded, it is suggested that nematodes of Syphacia genus would be useful as taxonomic markers of the evolutionary history Akodontini rodents.