The good, the bad and the ugly: evolution and life history of parasitism

This event has already taken place

Parasites are defined as ‘organisms that feed on one host, causing harm, but not necessarily immediate death’. To most people their name provokes images of ticks, tapeworms and leeches (often accompanied by an involuntary shudder).

While parasites may seem most notable to us in their apparent grotesqueness and oddity, we generally underestimate the scope, diversity and importance of parasites in our everyday lives and the natural world.

This meeting will include an overview of the fascinating world of parasites, and give examples of how they manipulate the behaviour of their host, how they may alter their own behaviour and life history to maximise their reproductive success, and, importantly, how they have played a central role in the evolution of life on earth, including the development of human life and society.

Photo: Mathieu Bélanger Morin

Speakers:

Fear of Fungi: Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem health (16.0 MB)
Dr. Matthew Fisher, Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology

Pandemic HIV – Where? When? How? and Why? (18.0 MB)
Professor Dorothy Crawford of the Centre for Infectious Diseases, University of Edinburgh

Host manipulation by parasites: diversity, evolution and ecological significance (20.8 MB)
Dr Frédéric THOMAS (IRD/CNRS, Montpellier, France)

Organised by Jon Bielby, Institute of Zoology, ZSL

Further Information: please contact Megan Orpwood-Russell, Scientific Meetings Coordinator, Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London NW1 4RY.
Tel:+44 (0)20 7449 6227. Fax: +44 (0)20 7449 6411. E-mail: megan.orpwood-russell@zsl.org.

This event in the 'Communicating Science' series will begin at 6.00pm (doors from 5.00pm) and talks are scheduled to finish at 7.45pm; admission is free and open to everyone (no advance booking or registration required). This event will be held in the ZSL Meeting Rooms and seats will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

ZSL Science and Conservation Events: An essential part of ZSL's work is to communicate relevant, high-quality zoological and conservation science. The integrated ZSL Science and Conservation Events programme includes Symposia, and the new 'Wildlife Conservation' and 'Communicating Science' series. Topics cover a wide variety of zoological and conservation themes, and international experts present and discuss their research.

Related links
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