Helminth Parasites of Galápagos Mammals: A New Cestode of the Genus Raillietina from the Endemic Rice Rat Nesoryzomys swarthi and a Summary of Parasites from Both Endemic and Invasive Rodents

Authors

Scott Lyell Gardner, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Emma K. Chesley, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Michael C. Friedle, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Altangerel Tsogtsaikhan Dursahinhan, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Gardner https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3133-740X

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1-2025

Citation

Parasitology (January 2025) 27: 1-16

doi: 10.1017/S0031182025000083

Comments

Copyright 2025, Cambridge University Press. Open access

License: CC BY 4.0

Abstract

In this first report of endoparasites from endemic land-mammals of the Galápagos Islands, we describe a new species of cestode of the genus Raillietina (Cyclophyllidea: Davaineidae) from a species of Nesoryzomys and summarize the extent of helminth parasitism in both oryzomyine endemics and introduced species of Rattus. Up to the current time, no helminth parasites have been reported from rodents of the Galápagos, and little work has yet been done describing and synthesizing Galápagos parasite diversity. In historical times, several species of autochthonous rodents have occupied the islands including: Nesoryzomys narboroughi Heller 1904, N. fernandinae Hutterer and Hirsch 1979, N. swarthi Orr, 1938, and Aegialomys galapagoensis (Waterhouse, 1839). Colonization of the islands by humans brought 3 known species of synanthropic rodents: Rattus rattus, R. norvegicus, and Mus musculus which are suspected to have caused the extinction of at least 3 other oryzomyines in historical times.