Ancient parasites from endemic deer from “CUEVA PARQUE DIANA” archeological site, Patagonia, Argentina

Abstract

The narrow Andean-Patagonian temperate rainforest strip in the west of southern South America is inhabited by two endemic species of cervids, the southern pudu (Pudu puda) and the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), both cataloged as near threatened and threatened species, respectively. One of the possible causes of their declined number is the susceptibility to livestock diseases. Significant zooarchaeological records of both deer have been found throughout the Holocene from Patagonia. The present contribution reports the first paleoparasitological results obtained from coprolites of endemic deer from the archeological site "Cueva Parque Diana," Neuquén Province, Argentina, and discusses the possible diseases found in ancient times. Thirty-four coprolites were fully processed, rehydrated, homogenized, sieved, subjected to spontaneous sedimentation, and examined by light microscopy. Thirty samples contained parasite remains. The presence of diverse parasitic diseases such as trematodioses, metastrongylosis, trichuriosis, strongylida gastroenteritis, dioctophymosis, and coccidiosis which could cause diseases in deer previous to the arrival of European livestock and the presence of zoonotic diseases in the hunters-gatherers and fishermen are discussed.

Were human-introduced diseases the responsible for Pleistocene-Holocene megafaunal extinctions? First evidence from South America

“…Beltrame et al (2017a, 2017b, 2020) described digenean eggs found in coprolites belonging to endemic deer from Patagonia in pre-Hispanic times. Samples described by Beltrame and collaborators were collected from the archeological site named “Cueva Parque Diana” (Figure 1).…”

“…Among the eggs described by Beltrame et al (2017b), some were identified with the trematodan digenean species Fasciola hepatica (Figure 2). This constituted the first report of digenean eggs from ancient deer worldwide, and confirmed its presence prior to the arrival of European cattle.…”

“…Fascioliosis is one of the most important diseases in domestic ruminants (Sanabria and Romero, 2008; Suárez et al, 2007). The close interaction between deer and human populations suggests the presence of zoonotic diseases also in the hunter-gatherers and fishermen populations inhabiting this archeological site in the past (Beltrame et al, 2017b).…”

“…However, its existence in endemic deer from Patagonia having ca. 2300 years BP, may allow to speculate that this disease penetrated South America probably with the first man arrivals during the Late Pleistocene (Beltrame et al, 2017a, 2017b). This is also sustained by the presence of a Fasciola in camelids from sites around cal.…”

Dinámica de la infestación por Fasciola hepatica en el sur de la provincia de Entre Ríos

“…Scarcella et al, 2012;Savage et al, 2013;Fuchs et al, 2013). -Coma et al, 2001;Bargues et al, 2017), pero recientes hallazgos paleoparasitologicos locales en fósiles animales con más de 2000 años de antigüedad suponen que este trematodo podría haber llegado antes a América (Beltrame et al, 2017). En efecto, Sey (1991), propuso que rumiantes parasitados por trematodos podría haber migrado desde Eurasia hacia América a través del canal de Bering, y posteriormente al surgimiento del estrecho de Panamá (hace 3 millones de años), haber arribado a América del Sur.…”