Parasites
Latest about parasites
![null](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MCcryMt5RQtLBv2v44J68N-320-80.jpg)
Can a cat parasite control your mind?
By Benjamin Plackett published
This parasite may manipulate your brain to make you take more risks.
![A tongue-eating louse, or isopod (purple) became this fish's living tongue.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/85cXFZg7FzseqM4TC4DFFc-320-80.jpg)
Meet the 'vampire' parasite that masquerades as a living tongue
By Mindy Weisberger published
Digital models of a fish skull revealed a parasitic stowaway inside its mouth: a "tongue biter" isopod that consumed and then replaced the fish's tongue.
![A female anglerfish. Hey, good lookin'!](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/N6tsBcMs3V6Q7VTctEQzWh-320-80.jpg)
Evolution turned this fish into a 'penis with a heart.' Here's how.
By Brandon Specktor published
Anglerfish are literally missing part of their immune system, but this allows them to permanently fuse during sex, new research suggests
![West Virginia University researchers were part of a team that discovered how Massospora, a parasitic fungus, manipulates male cicadas into flicking their wings like females — a mating invitation — to tempt and infect other males.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5TuVo7brPmT9Uier5uoQcV-320-80.jpg)
Mind-controlling fungus makes zombie cicadas lure other cicadas to a zombie fate
By Mindy Weisberger published
Not only does the fungus Massospora infect cicadas, eat their bodies and turn them into mind-controlled zombies, it forces them to attract more cicada victims.
![Tuna sashimi](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/h37HYzccYccoifE2NTfn8H-320-80.jpg)
Woman's sore throat was really a worm living in her tonsil
By Rachael Rettner published
A woman's sore throat turned out to have a rare — and horrifying — cause.
![In this reconstruction of the Cambrian brachiopod Neobolus wulongqingensis, tubelike parasites cling to its shell.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ge9fpBYPKwZJn2EbyEY4cH-320-80.jpg)
Cambrian fossils show oldest example of parasites in action
By Mindy Weisberger published
Fossil brachiopods from China were crusted with parasites, which may have hijacked their hosts' feeding structures in order to steal their dinner.
![Two white dots (circled in red) are actually a new species of parasitic fungus that lives on American millipedes](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Qks4CBvhCC4AaLBfvFHr9M-320-80.jpg)
'First species discovered on Twitter' is a parasitic fungus that dines on millipede genitals
By Brandon Specktor published
Researchers discovered a new species while looking at Twitter photos. They have named the parasite Troglomyces twitteri.
![Feral cats such as this one, photographed on the island of Oahu, Hawaii in Hanauma Bay, introduced a parasite into local ecosystems.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5GVR5F9DLzJHPMiSCxFLsN-320-80.jpg)
'Mind-control' cat parasite has now reached Hawaii's parks
By Mindy Weisberger published
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii has been found on Oahu, Hawaii public lands for the first time.
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