TABLE I. Summary of studies on protozoa in extinct animalsa.
| Protozoan | Origin (paleontological/archaeological site) |
Period | Host | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archeococcidia antiquus sp. nov. | Rampart Cave, Grand Canyon | 10500 ± 180 BP | Shasta ground sloth | Schmidt et al. (1992) |
| Archeococcidia nothrotheriopsae sp. nov. | (Arizona, USA) | (Nothrotheriops shastensis) | ||
| Paleoleishmania proterus gen. nov., sp. nov. | Burmese amber | Early Cretaceous | Sandfly | Poinar & Poinar (2004) |
| Trypanosoma antiquus sp. nov. | La Toca amber mine | Mid-Tertiary | Triatoma dominicana sp. nov. | Poinar (2005a) |
| (Dominican Republic) | ||||
| Plasmodium dominicana sp. nov. | Dominican Republic amber | Mid-Tertiary | Culex mosquito | Poinar (2005b) |
| Entamoebites antiquus | Belgium | Early Cretaceous | Iguanodon | Poinar & Boucot (2006) |
| Free living trypanosomatids | Amber beds in Kachin (Burma) | Early Cretaceous | Sandfly larvae | Poinar (2007) |
| Endamoebites proterus gen. nov. | Burmese amber | Early Cretaceous | Termite | Poinar (2009) |
| (Kalotermes burmensis sp. nov.) | ||||
| Trichomonas gallinae-like protozoan | North America | Latest Maastrichtian | Tyrannosaurids | Wolff et al. (2009) |
| Eimeria lobatoi | Perna I, São Raimundo Nonato | 9000 BP | Deer | Ferreira et al. (1992) |
| (Piauí, Brazil) | ||||
| Eimeria macusaniensis, Eimeria ivitaensis | Peru | 1000 BP | Camelids | Leguía et al. (1995) |
| (Lama glama, Lama alpaca) | ||||
| E. macusaniensis | Orejas de Burro 1 | 3978-3720 cal. year BP | Camelids | Fugassa & Barberena (2006) |
| Nombre de Jesús | XVI century AD | Camelids | Fugassa & Guichón (2006) | |
| Cerro Casa de Piedra 7 | 8000 BP | Camelids | Fugassa (2007) | |
| Cerro Casa de Piedra | Middle Holocene | Felines | Fugassa et al. (2009) | |
| Uncertain human origin | Beltrame et al. (2010) |
a: all studies used microscopy as identification method, except for Wolff et al. (2009) who analysed erosive lesions; AD: Anno Domini; BP: before present.