Tomorrow Today | Parasites - evolution

Imagine a creature that wants to be eaten. The Schistocephalus tapeworm has to be,in order to continue its impressively complex life cycle.In each different stage,it must adapt itself to its host in order to survive and reproduce. First the larvae are eaten by a copepod,a kind of rudder-footed crustacean,which in turn is eaten by a three-spined stickleback,a fish which later winds up in the belly of a bird. Parasites may have an unsavory reputation,but they are in fact among nature's great success stories. A report by Anne Hoffmann.

[@BuickDoc]

I, personally, sleep in a vat of formaldehyde so that the parasites can't get me...

[@positrondecay4784]

It baffles me how such an specific, intricate system evolves. How does the creature know just how all these creatures work and how to manipulate them? How did they end up adjusting to all of these systems to complete its lifecycle without failing _and in such a short time? I'm not offering this of evidence disproving evolution, I'm just stumped at how this species-tailored evolution develops.

[@TheTarrMan]

Any update on this?

[@truvelocity]

No one wants to talk about parasites Its so gross.

[@scoon2117]

I love talking about them, It gets me in trouble with my coworkers.