Parasites Are Good, Actually
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- Опубликовано: 16 сен 2024
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Parasites give most of us the heebie-jeebies. But new research shows they're pretty dang important for ecosystems, and climate change is putting them in danger. So here's some of the reasons you should care about those guys!
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Same thing my X said when I wanted to leave her.
@@Hex-Mas she didn't want to host your web site anymore?
I am curious why cancers aren’t considered parasites? I believe treatments that decrease parasitic increase have been shown to decrease cancer growth as well, so to me this is an indication that the damaged cells that become cancers actually mutate into parasitic like cells and that cheap and easy to make antiparasitics can be effective complimentary treatments for cancers.
Between this video and "Why You Might Want Parasitic Worms," Scishow is the most pro parasite RUclips channel I've ever seen.
Somebody poke Ze Frank.
Nah, the most pro-parasite channel on YT is Prager U.
@@talideon Good one! 😂
Also pro herpes!
@@talideon Prager Urine
Parasites that jump from host to host to host species in a single life cycle are really cool because their presence can show the health of an ecosystem. If I need to trampoline off of a marsh snail, do a backflip off a specific species of crab, and end up in a heron, then the fact that I'm able to survive doing that means that those species and the species they depend on are doing pretty well!
That's really poignant, never thought about it that way.
Wow good for you.
One reason more to welcome global warming
I can send you some parasites, I have millions of eggs 🥚 I work in a meat factory 🏭 chance are if you live in the LA area you might already have some 😏 I package them up because they benefit the human body ❤
“Are parasites good?”
“Depends on the context.”
Pretty much
the kids ain't getting this one
Common parasite -Flatosis-Eartherosis. good for the world or bad?
What I find confusing is why such a large portion of parasites are multi-host. You would think a lifecycle that reads like a Rube Goldberg machine would be bad for hardiness.
It _is_ bad for hardiness, hence the worry.
But what the _advantage_ is, good question
@@michaelmicek
Access to a wider territory range, mostly. Thus getting at more hosts, overall, protecting the parasites from isolated illnesses that can wipe out small pockets of hosts. Plus, access to an increased number of novel proteins that they don't, then, have to synthesize.
Climate change is way more, well, global than any disease. So it can threaten entire host species, as opposed to isolated populations.
Pitch meeting:
_So our host is birds. How should we get them to ingest us?_
*We should infect snails and turn them into zombies so the birds will eat them* ‼️
_But how do we infect snails?_
*That's easy! Snails love to eat bird* 💩
-Wait, what_ ⁉️
If a parasite that is passed through the feces of an animal that isn't coprophagic, there would be a less likely chance of that parasite's survival. I thought I had a good explanation, but then I started thinking about the advantages of multiple hosts vs. evolving to be passed through different means. Maybe it's just easier to evolve to infect another host.
probably shows how interconnected ecosystems truly are - that this can be such a prevalent strategy. that said, i wouldn't be surprised if individual species of multi-host parasites are some of the most transient species our world sees.
I study bees, and so few people know about cuckoo bees, our parasitic bees. They represent a greater diversity of bees than social bees do - around 13% of all bees are cleptoparasitic. They act as important bioindicators and help warn us of declines in their hosts. Plus they're just super cool :)
No they're not
"Parasitism is a way of life"
Politicians and CEOs can speak from experience...
And landlords!
@@probablyaxenomorph5375 Indeed. But as opposed to ecology, all of those mentioned by both of you, are totally worthless in any real sense, to anyone. I would also add anyone of the Wall Street type people and bankers.
@@probablyaxenomorph5375 damn not sure how I forgot them. Good spot!
Some of my co-workers certainly sucked the life out of an otherwise healthy work environment
@DiscordianDisciple27 yeah but you were still being exploited by those above you for capital 😀
Don't be fooled, a parasite made them write this title!
Las Plagas! I knew it!!! The remake coming out was NOT a coincidence!!!
Lol
This video brought to you by the cordyceps fungi infecting the SciShow team 😁
agreed
Toxoplasma gondii!!!
If your parent ever calls you a parasite, show them this video 🥰
Told to find another host
Oh yeah? Well me mooching off of you, means this is a healthy ecosystem! xD
Acrually, scientifically a mammal's fetus is a parasite.
It's so interesting to see how some species really depend on each other! Our camera crew "went inside" figs that live in symbiosis with tiny fig wasps. The tree depends on the wasp to pollinate its flowers, but in return, it offers a hidden place for the insect to lay its eggs. It's fascinating to see it!
3:33 "unless the parasites are infecting us or domesticated animals like pets and lifestock" -- don't forget plant parasites!
I imported parasite wasps in my terrariums to munch on the whiteflies population and now, they're not gone, but they stay at a manageable level, It's awesome!
ooo thats cool
Came here to say this. Parasitoid wasps are crucial to keeping the pest populations down, and are highly valuable to gardeners and farmers.
Yep, it would be bad for parasites to kill off their host population entirely, so they have a benefit from letting some survive.
Thats something a parasite would say
Maybe they're infected with a Neurax worm. Or it's cordiceps.
Not sure how solid this theory is, but I've heard it discussed that the proliferation of allergy and immune conditions these days could be related to how uncommon parasites are becoming in humans. Supposedly we evolved to be dealing with these constant unavoidable parasite loads, and now that they're suddenly gone, our immune systems trip over themselves with having so little work to do.
Parasites Are Good, Actually
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Oy vey
@@mickeymickey9914 Follow your leader.
Meta comment
Follow your leader
@righhhteous 9 your wife
Basically, it's the same reason you want predators. Too many damn deer, too many damn crabs
Parasites allow nutrients to flow around the food chain without full predation.
Any efficient food web will rely on a degree of parasitism to function optimally.
That we assume parasites are bad is likely because we don't like anything that can feed on us so we impart malice to the concept.
Whoever made the animation of the critter trying to smile and "thumbs up" - that's as close to cute as I've ever seen a parasite get, so...good job!
It's fair to say that parasites do much the same job ecologically as predators: they cull the populations of whatever species they're adapted for. They are no doubt much more focused (or do I mean specialized) than say, a wolf, and they're certainly not as pretty or poetic. I think we all have some level of discomfort with looking at and considering parasites, maybe because we're projecting our own personal sense of well being onto whatever host the parasite infects. But if considering the plight of parasites leads to effective solutions for helping entire ecosystems survive the climate change WE caused? We definitely need to work on it. Even if it DOESN'T lead to helpful solutions it won't be wasted knowledge.
This reminds me a lot of the unfair stigma we placed on the fungi kingdom for a long time. Ex. Apparently there was a time when mycorrhizal fungi were thought to be "parasitic" & "harmful to plants!" We now know how immensely beneficial they are (to both the plants & the ecosystem as a whole), to the point where they're added to many soil mixes. (And that's not even getting into the important role our "decomposers" play in our ecosystems even if they never directly benefit any particular species!)
I like that this video takes it a step further, pushing us to question the idea that "parasitic species/relationships are always a bad thing." A species' impact is never limited to the species it directly interacts with, after all... everything has the potential for a "domino effect" within an ecosystem!
What are you on parasitism is defined as being harmful to the host species
@@TrueAnts1 Did you watch the video...? "Harmful to a certain species" doesn't necessarily mean "harmful to the ecosystem as a whole." Think that was the entire point of the video...
@@TrueAnts1 There's a reason parasites stuck around, if all they did was make an ecosystem worse they'd just cause it to collapse over time.
I fell like this kind of research really needs to be done at 2 locations, aka a PAIR O' SITES. Sorry, someone had to say it :)
Something tells me "Save the parasites" isn't as rallying a slogan as scientists hope it to be.
There's a reason why Lovecraft has no mammal monsters in his stories and most of them are reptile, fish, fungi or invetrebrate in nature. His creations are all based on creatures he found to be grotesque and unsympathetic. And a lot of them draw from the same things we aren't inclined to try and save.
Incredibly relevant: ruclips.net/video/bPC1hDpfPjU/видео.html
As a person who loves all of those things, that makes me kinda sad 😢
Parasite monster?
@@smfreij no but he does have ressurecting bacteria.
@@marseillejoh same
Black Spot is a parasitic condition that is quite common in inland lakes in Michigan. I believe it is a multi-host species (mollusk->fish->bird). It’s extremely benign when you cook your fish though.
That was a insightful video but when it comes to parasites I'm still going to have to say 'Nope'
i believe the argument isn't necessarily that parasites themselves are good but that a balance needs to be maintained.
@@pforgottonsoul Predators! Predators are a thing. Horrifying parasites, not required 😭
@@bleh329Exactly.
@@bleh329 Horrifying parasites, like the snail one and cordyceps fungi. I wish they went extinct.
I couldn't agree more... Especially since I'm doing my best currently not to scratch the bump left by moskito on my body....🤬
Ahhh nature, brutal yet balanced as always
remember a story from some years ago about ground Hyena. living in holes have parasitic flys that have no wings and only live in their fur.
there are just a few of those hyenas left. and I thought, there goes the wingless fly, :( and his much taller friend of course.
Parasitic castrators are some of the most interesting parsites out there, and yes it means what you think it does. Here's some quick definitions on the different parasitic strategies. Keep in mind many parasites have multiple life cycles, and each one of those stages can fall into anyone of these categories. This short list is not all inclusive, so there are other ways to classify parasites, but im not going to get into that.
*Pathogen*: They require the host to be living and healthy, but DO NOT require the death of the host. This is things like Plasmodium malariae, or Trypansoma brucei. (yes this pathogens often lead to the death of host, but the life cycle of the pathogen was completed many times over.)
*Parasitoid:* These require death of the host to complete life cycle. Think of the Xenomorph of alien, or the emerald wasp
*Trophically transmitted*: These are things that are mentioned at 4:55. These require intermediate hosts to eventually arrive at the definitive host common example are tapeworms.
*Parasitic castrators*: They do not require the death of the host, and infact actively try to keep their host alive. A common example are the infraclass Rhizocephala, which are barnacles and are the example i'll be focusing on, so if anything i mention isn't in line with ALL parasitic castrators thats why. Whats really interesting about Rhizocephalans is even though their host is dead from an evolutionary standpoint(can't pass down its genes) the host actually has something to gain. Flying crabs are a common host for Rhizocephalans and infected crabs will often times grow larger, than their counter parts. Infected male crabs will essentially become feminized where their behavior is much more defensive, and some of their anatomic structures end up resembling that of females.
Reproduction is actually quite a costly mechanism, and the Rhizocephalan is much more optimized for producing more larvae that the crab is. I forget the actually ratio, but for the sake of conversation lets say that for every sperm a crab would make, the Rhizocephalan can make 1000. So the parasite essentially uses less resources for more reproduction, and the surplus of energy the crab can use to grow larger. The parasite is able to chemically signal the crab to spend more resources on growth rather than reproduction, and this ends up being beneficial for both because, the more surface area of the crab, the more the Rhizocephalan is able to reproduce.
This form of parasitic castration is borderline symbiosis, and really shows how crazy life can get on earth.
In all the sources I found on those barnacles, I never heard the part where it actually boosts the crab. Do you have a paper for that? Cause if so, sounds more like the barnacle is Venom than a Tongue Louse
Rip to the California Condor lice species that went extinct after scientists deloused the last surviving condors.
There’s a fine line between parasitism and symbiosis
The parasite of my predator is my symbiote.
Parasitism is already technically a form of symbiosis. They went into this in another video, but the three kinds of symbiosis are mutualism where both benefit, commensalism where the host is neither helped nor harmed, and parasitism where the symbiote benefits at the host's expense.
@FrozenWolf150
The issue with discussing it is that Symbiotes are typically categorized under Parasites regardless of benefit, and often the common info centralizes around lethal or illness cases.
Then again most outlets benefit from ignoring the fact Symbiote fatalities are likely caused by poor nutrition or stress so...
@ClayXros Yeah, what they're finding now is that symbiotes once considered only parasitic may actually confer some benefits to their hosts, since it makes sense to keep your host alive and well if that's where you're living from now on. Nature pretty much never adheres to the rigid and mutually exclusive categories we conceive, as there is always some overlap.
@FrozenWolf150
And I can get why they're trying to get the benefits without taking in the parasites(which is the context I've heard of the research). But I can't help but think that research is sidestepping the real issues.
Real issues being poor nutrition and stress, which turns the symbiotes into am infection (which really is just a symptom of malnutrition at that point)
Save the host, save the parasite? That sounds like an easier sell 🤣
Of course it’s good, it won Best Picture!
@AfianyArkoasnow298 YES!
I draw the line at lay eggs inside me and slowly consume me from the inside out only to hatch out of what's left of my hollow corpse. Short of that hey so long as I don't really know they are there much, feel free to hitch a ride :P
The video doesn't mention a lot of the things I expected:
Parasites can also be a food source for other organisms, escpecially parasitic plants and fungi. The fruits of mistletoes for example can be eaten by birds. Although they probably wouldn't go extinct without them.
Parasites can also help fighting pests and are used in organic farming or to fight mosquitos.
Also comparing data from the last 100 or 150 years should be done carefully. Humans already manipulated the environment back then. So for example data from the 1960s probably doesn't show a natural state but - on the contrary - a state with even more polution than today. In some places this is also true for data from the 19th century (especially near mines or chemical plants - everything was just dumped in the environment). And we don't know how the data varied the centuries before. But I assume the scientiests thought of that ;)
I feel we also need to start distinguishing Symbiotes and Parasites separately. As far as i know theyre universally pinned under the Parasite label, even if they assist healthy individuals (and even ill ones typically).
That distinction being an organism that lives pff a host, but benefits them (or doesnt impact) throughout life, be considered a Symbiote. Where one is a Parasite are the ones that always damage or kill the host, such as Wasps or the eye worms.
That’s how I learned it, parasitism, commensalism and mutualism are three kinds of symbiosis, parasitism, the one where the symbiotic benefits at the host’s expense, commensalism, where the symbiotic benefits without helping or harming the host, and mutualism, where both the symbiotic and host benefit, like lichen
You have it backwards. Parasitism falls under symbiosis, but symbiosis can be good for both, good for one and neutral for the other, or just bad for one and good for the other. Tldr, symbiosis is a blanket term that parasitism falls under.
Ecology and conservationism are good and everything, and maybe I'm splitting hairs, but sometimes it bothers me when certain conservational actions are framed as if they're to "natures" benefit when the truth is it's to our own benefit, and nature would still be nature regardless of what species go extinct, because extinction is a natural part of evolution.
Like I guess it's easier to save the parasites than to deal with the butterfly effect their disappearance would cause, but it's not as if Nature wouldn't ultimately find equilibrium again. It's hard to say whether or not such a thing would somehow find it's way to affecting humanity somehow, but if we could somehow be sure it would have no effect on humanity we likely wouldn't bother.
Even if it does affect humanity, we don't seem to bother much. The ultimate parasite of our society, the bourgeoisie, are eating away at our host planet and the rest of us. All the while their parasitic ideologies continue to penetrate society at a brutally propagandistic pace.
It bothers me too but I've learned to accept it's mostly a PR thing. People are more likely to support these kinds of things if they think there's some greater purpose behind it and not just self-interest
Yeah.
Nice. I also learned that "fishes" is an acceptable plural when talking about more than one species of fish.
sleeping with the fishes
It's like seeing them as predators in a way
No
Aren’t all forms of life parasitic to some degree? We all all consume energy with different qualities of matter. Micro-organisms and plants consume sunlight and all decomposing bodies, animals consume animals and plants, and we consume everything we can… We are the greatest parasite! ❤😂
Well, the sunlight and corpses at least would just go to waste otherwise.
Even parasites that affect humans can have value. It seems that people are developing more allergies in recent generations. If a child is never exposed to (some) parasites, it seems their immune system never matures properly. This means that it remains on 'hair-trigger' throughout life, causing sometimes life-threatening reactions to harmless allergens.
This is really interesting. Did Sci-show already make a video on that or did I read about it somewhere else? I don't see why we couldn't give kids a pet parasite for a week as long as we pick one that doesn't lead to other issues in the future. Maybe the medication to treat the parasite would matter too? Some of them are probably mildly toxic.
That's exactly what a parasite would say.
I'm on to you...
There are even paracitic forms of human life, we call them shareholders. Its their influence that causes healthy coperations to do large layoffs so the quartarly report shows the right number. Destroying the workplace but preserving the shareholder.
Now if we think about it, when humans got rid of most of their parasites, they too got kinda out of hand.
As crazy as it sounds I wonder if there are any species it would be of benefit to the ecosystem if they weren't present
Probably humans!
Species from more urban places, places with a low amount of animals (deserts, frozen regions), basically everywhere not in a busy swamp
Pretty much all of them.
This is why I like all animal and I mean ALL animals, parasites may get a bad reputation, but this is just how they are meant to survive, it’s no less moral than a lion killing a zebra to survive.
It may not be "immoral" but it's still "icky"! And the idea of getting eaten by a lion doesn't exactly thrill me either. 🤣
bird also eat infected(?) snail
Absolutely. People act like parasites are like evil or something when they're just trying to survive.
@@josequiles7430 yeah, but humans have the law to follow, break that and there will be unfortunate consequences. Though some animals also have rules they must follow too, social insects are a prime example of that.
Parasites are good, just not for you.*
was this written by a parasite
One type of parasite that should go extinct? Landlords.
Thought this video was going to be about landlords trying to explain why they are good for the economy.
Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled parasites.
My brother got paralyzed by a tick. Also I count mosquitoes as parasites to me, and they can go straight to hell
Read “Parasite Rex” by Carl Zimmer. Fascinating reading. The life scientist part of me thought, “Wow! This is so cool!”, while the other part of me went “Eww, ick!” One instance where one can hold conflicting views at the same time, and not be crazy. Fascinated and squeamish, yes, but not crazy. 😁😳😁😳
Considering adversarial ideas Isn't madness, it's intelligence.
Malaria entered the chat...
Sounds like something a parasite would say...
Landlords getting excited seeing this video.
I got your point. Parasites keep number of animal not to break ecosystem.
But Parasites is just nemesis to every single animal. Can we deem Parasites as good? I don't think so.
Interesting to think about how this might apply to human expansion. Did we figure out how to get rid of our parasites by controlling our environments?
That's for sure a minimum of one reason. The primary one is, of course, our use of tools. However, personal hygene is something most organisms in nature practice specifically to avoid infections and parasites. Many animals also keep their nest area clean for this same reason.
So yeah, we also do that as well. We just know how to do it for a wider range of environments.
I actually can't believe that we are even trying to save them. I hate them so much but its for the greater good ig
Noooooo. No, no, no, noooo. I remember watching a Hank Green video, on his channel, about how every living thing does NOT contribute to the ecosystem in a positive way. Pretty sure parasites was one of those things...
Will I try tracking down that video to find out? Maybe... oh god, how much stuff do I have to get done before the end of the day...?
Keep in mind what this video states around 1:02: parasitism is a very general/broad survival strategy. It can take many different forms & occurs in a _huge_ diversity of species & ecosystems. I don't think this video is trying to say that parasitism is _never_ harmful... more that we shouldn't assume that _all_ parasitism is harmful in _every_ ecosystem.
@@catsrmylyf Seems to me they're thinking the only good form of parasite is one that doesn't affect humans ;p
thanks for this informative videos, more people should be more aware of this. I leave now my engine running over night in the garage when i come home from work.
4:14 okay okay "pals" is a strong word...
F to to the last of the condor louse whose last members were killed off when the entire condor population was taken in for conservation and subsequently deloused. Making it a tragic case of a species going extinct as a direct result of conservation efforts.
Even people can be parasites, for example when somone rents something necessary to live like house and watches cash flow doing nothing for society
Yeah.... No. I am not on board with saving the parasites. Just... No.
parasite management is the only reason i'm doing this run as a human.
Hahaha that’s valid
Aliens later will be like: You also conserve WHAT!
**me tired of spending $30 per pound for crab**
“The European green crab is invasive, and without the parasite it will be out of control.”
Well, I think we can get rid of the parasite and still get rid of the problem with some lemon butter
Could we use parasites to keep invasive species in check on purpose?
Yes, I remember reading about attempts to do this, I unfortunately can’t remember exactly where I read it
"Parasites Are Good, Actually" take it mom and dad!
you can't save everything cute, eat everything that tastes good and kill everything you are afraid of and expect a working and healthy ecosystem to come out of it
nature always is well preserved on it's own every species live because they fit in the ecosystem no matter how scary or cute, good or bad, beautiful or ugly we consider them
no a cuckoo is not evil for killing the babies of another bird, if it was dangerous for the population on it's own it would never evolve this strategy because it would drive it's own species to extinction too it plays the exact same role of a predator like a hawk just in a different way and this goes for every single organism that is considered a parasite
and all this happens because they just want to survive, a parasite doesn't care about its effects in the ecosystem it just wants to live everything else happens on it's own even other animals people consider useless are not, besides thats a very subjective view of things...chickens are useful for us for every product they produce, mosquitoes are considered useless by people because all they do is annoy us with drinking the blood but WE are useful to mosquitoes in the same way chickens are useful to us and at the same time all this cycle is useless to a random animal like a beetle, why would it care about the cycle of chicken < human < mosquito? these organisms could be considered useless to it and they don't play any part in it's life yet it has it's own part in a different cycle, it cares about it's own predators and food items....and all these cycles of organisms between animals together combined are the thing we call ecosystem
Very interesting to understand how parasites have developed ways to attack cells. I'm searching for infornation about cancer as a parasite. Bacteria can easily be weaponise as well as genetically manipulated mosquitos for example. Or in small water droppets as fungus that attacks the respiratory system, similar to some viruses we know.
Correlating something with climate change is my favorite thing; with the top dog being the correlation of changing climate, and the decline of pirates over time.
The money doesn’t have to go to the animals in the advertisement. In this case dying on the hill of “ put your money where your mouth is” is inviting millions of species to die along with you. Just show the pandas and say xpercent of earth’s species are endangered in x year instead of something specific about pandas and let â committee of scientists decide which species gets the money.
What I tell my parents every day I live in their house
2:25 Sis, it's not larva, it,s the newly hatched adult!
Well, the ticks here in Maine are doing quite well and we also have the largest moose population in the lower 48 States. An adult moose here can have from 40,000-90,000 ticks on it, the warming climate isn't killing ticks in winter much anymore. A healthy adult moose can still survive it. Unfortunately, more than 90% of moose calves that biologists tracked were killed by the stress in the winter study of 2021-22. What's good in an ecosystem is balance. All life is 'good', imo. The question is always about balance.
Everyone involved in this episode is a parasite in disguise
Yeah I know, earth is warming up, animals are dying and disappearing, so are other living things and plants, water is running out, food is becoming scarcer, economies are crashing, there's war and a threat of nuclear war. I'm ready to live the second half of my life in this setting.
As an autistic person parasites are something I'm a little more than obsessed about. I was the only one sitting starry-eyed during our parasite unit in Bio 2, before I graduated. Everyone else wasn't so excited 😆
EDIT: People who don't know how to have fun in the comments. Love to learn every once in a while. Explore your local nature scene. Buy field guides and read them. Love the natural world around you just a little bit and maybe you'll feel better.
You must go to a lot of parties
@@parlor3115 Parties are a great way to get parasites.
That's cool. Love it when people have a strong interest in things most pay little attention to!
What's your favorite parasite?
@@wmdkitty Hmm... it'd be tough to choose, since admittedly I don't know a whole lot about them (most of them ick me out quite a bit), but I'd say that the cordyceps fungus is one of the coolest and least icky. It's not a creature with a proper nervous system, yet it is able to selectively destroy parts of its host and control the host's behavior to an extent. Fascinating organism for sure! Horsehair worms are pretty sick too, simply for how utterly gnarly they are. The way they move makes me anxious unlike just about any other living creature, not to mention the way they exit their cricket hosts is utterly horrifying, so they get points for being insanely creepy to the point that it's kind of awesome.
I'm glad you guys made this, because recently I've been wondering how parasites differ from carnivores. I've never seen someone defend parasites before!
But what about all the parasites that affect both human and nonhuman animals too? Like ticks or tape worms and pin worms? Are those not considered in this conservation effort?
Hmm that sounds like what a parasite would say. I wouldn't be fooled. *thundercross split attack*
predatory animals like lions or cats are highly admired, even though they kill their prey, sometimes very brutally. parasites don't get any love, even though most of them don't kill their prey (parasitoids like parasitoid wasps are not parasites). for me, parasites are kind of "noble" predators that only take what they need. this goes especially for ectoparasites (those that don't enter the host's body, like mosquitos or ticks). they are like neighbors that kindly ask if they could have a bit of blood for their offspring (ticks and mosquitos dont kill people, the viral, protozoan or bacterial endoparasites they carry kill people).
They're more like hobos who break into your house to steal bread, but smaller and not human.
@@xingzheli7431 Yeah. Or like a cat that invites itsrlf into that house, and that stays there, because there's free food.
Don't compare lovely cats to your gross parasites
It's just like everything else in nature... There's a balance needed, even with species you'd just as soon go without. Ticks aren't great, but think of how many critters would go hungry without them, like possums for example.
That snail is in excruciating pain for every moment of its life.
That sounds like something a parasite would say.
I don't see a lot of benefit to parasites like fleas, mosquitos, horse/black/yellow flies, gnats, no-see-ems, ticks, etc.
Awww, that cartoon parasite is trying its best. What a champ! 🧡
The remarkable thing is the Earth has lost 99% of its life many times in the past due to asteroid impacts and other causes. And yet, it has always rebound with abundant life. All it takes is a single cell to survive. Most likely would be bacteria. That being said, the Sun won't be around forever, so humans may be Earth's last chance at making a spacefaring species.
Y tho
You would have to find a intire damn solsr system with a living planet in it
Seems like a comical task rather than just accepting nature and life as it is
Like i know what separates us from animals is our disregard of death but cmon this isjust comical
@@generic840 How about we just leave people like you on Earth to perish while the rest of us smart people get in a ship and keep on surviving. You do know it IS possible to build a big enough space ship that can sustain itself. We may not have the tech and "willpower" for it right now, but who knows what things will be like 100/1000/1,000,000 years from now.
Why do parasites make my nose itchy every 5 minutes?
"parasites are good" nice try fed, I'm not eating bugs
Here's a slogan for parasites "parasites ain't right"
Did the parasite lobby write this video?
As a cancer, I can confirm I am very important in the ecosystem. We also need support 😢🤚
>Parasites Are Good, Actually
This is EXACTLY what a PARASITE would say.
It is true, there are parasites that benefit your colon's microbiome that AREN'T tapeworms and roundworms. It's just a matter of WHERE parasites wind up that tend to get a little fucky. Your body tends to recognize what is and isn't supposed to be there. So when a small parasite winds up in your arm where it isn't supposed to be, your body attacks it causing the infections that is associated with the parasites. While there are some that legitimately cause damage via the usual nutrient drain, most don't exactly take a lot of energy to survive and replicate when they're in the right place... Like the colon.
Which kinda makes the tapeworms we're familiar with a kind of invasive species in our microbiome. They just come in and steal from the local environment.
Meanwhile, the one parasite that should disappear from the face of the earth, the mosquito, is thriving.
Mosquitos feed so many animals youd break the food chain. Parasitic worms on the other hand....
In all for studying as many parasites as possible, but if you think you will ever see the general population doing anything for parasites conservation...
She's so shiny. SO SHINY
Exactly what a parasite would say
Heard about this on OPB's Think Out Loud, I think.