Talking about lice, besides the fact that it seems that an itch on the head appears instantly and that most people have had them since they were children, is talking about the history of humanity itself. That's because, although some people don't know it, this parasite has evolved alongside our species. So, see more in this article how 2,000-year-old lice helped scientists understand the evolution of humanity.
Read more: Brazilians spend an average of 41 years of their lives online
see more
Alert: THIS poisonous plant landed a young man in the hospital
Google develops AI tool to help journalists in…
Understand how lice reveal how humanity evolved
It is thought that the first human skeletons appeared among African peoples around 170,000 years ago, and that they were transported to the New World in South America when they left Africa. As soon as people started wearing clothes, head lice migrated to this new habitat, leaving nits on clothes, evolved and gave rise to a new parasite: the body lice, also known as cheapskate.
With a diameter of 2 to 3 millimeters, the size of a sesame, six legs, and a color ranging from brown to grayish-white, the louse Adult hair follicle feeds on its host's blood by settling in the hair follicle at the base of the hair, where it also lays its eggs. It is known for being quick to play and easy to stream.
The evolution of humanity “told” by lice
Researchers from a University in England discovered that the sample of human DNA, recovered from the glands of Reproductive organs of female lice used to trap eggs, may reveal more about civilization's history human.
These samples were collected from the scalp of the remains of ancient South Americans aged between 1,500 and 2,000 years, and analyzes revealed details about the health, demographics and lives of some of the ancestors who suffered from an infestation of this parasite.
The “cement” of lice allowed the determination of the sex of each host, as well as connections with other ancient peoples, such as the Amazonians who have lived for two million years. In the case of people who went from Brazil to Argentina, the researchers determined that exposure to a very cold temperature was the likely cause of death based on the distance between the leather lice hairy.
