A Tick From a Prehistoric Arizona Coprolite (Galley Proofs)

Authors

Keith L. Johnson, Department of Anthropology, California State University, Chico
Karl J. Reinhard, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow
Luciana Sianto, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública/Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
Adauto Araújo, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública/Fundacão Oswaldo CruzFollow
Scott Lyell Gardner, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow
John J. Janovy Jr., University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1-15-2008

Comments

Citation: Johnson KL, Reinhard KJ, Sianto L, Araújo A, Gardner SL, Janovy Jr. J (2008) A tick from a prehistoric Arizona coprolite. Journal of Parasitology 94: 296-298. Galley proofs. Used by permission.

Abstract

Ticks have never been reported in archaeological analyses. Here, we present the discovery of a tick from a coprolite excavated from Antelope Cave in extreme northwest Arizona. Dietary analysis indicates that the coprolite has a human origin. This archaeological occupation is associated with the Ancestral Pueblo culture (Anasazi). This discovery supports previous hypotheses that ticks were a potential source of disease and that ectoparasites were eaten by ancient people.