Brain Parasites Make Their Way Into Shell-Bound Baby Lizards
Scientists found parasitic worms in the brains of lizard embryos. How did they get there?
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00:00 Scientists found parasitic worms inside the brains of lizard embryos
00:05 before the animals ever hatched.
00:07 How did they get there?
00:09 It turns out that these parasitic worms hide out in the ovaries of the lizard's mothers
00:18 and then make their way into the developing embryo
00:21 before a hardened shell forms around the animal.
00:24 The scientists that found these worms believe this is the first time
00:27 a parasite has been found that passed from a mother reptile into its offspring.
00:33 This has been found in mammalian species
00:37 where a parasite can either pass through the placenta to the developing animal
00:42 or it can be passed on through the breast milk after birth.
00:45 Because this sort of parasitic transmission hadn't been seen in reptiles before,
00:49 scientists thought that by laying eggs,
00:52 reptiles actually restricted the number of ways that parasites can get into their young
00:56 so they'd have to wait until the animals actually hatched before burrowing into their brains.
01:02 But after making the shocking discovery of these worms inside lizard embryos,
01:07 scientists now think that reptilian embryos might be more vulnerable to parasites than once thought.
01:13 But they don't yet know how these worms might affect the animals' health and behavior after they hatch.
01:19 (Music)