MISSION 5 — Hosting Blood Flukes for Dinner
Blood flukes are the common name given to parasitic flatworms. Parasites rely on hosts, so it perhaps doesn’t come as any surprise that a blood fluke often stays in lockstep with its host’s evolution— even splitting into new species at the same time as its host. When a parasite and host speciate together, it’s called cophyly. When a host and parasite do not speciate together, it may suggest that the parasite has evolved to rely on a different host. Clues to both patterns are found in the phylogenetic tree that you’ll build in this level.
Play "Hosting blood flukes for dinner" and answer questions 4–7 after you've completed the level.
4. Use the information in the species tabs in the level of the game to complete the table below.
5. Use the "Visualize It" button below to draw your completed phylogenetic tree from this level next to a phylogenetic tree of the hosts.
6. Compare and contrast the host tree and the parasite tree from question 5. Where do they match up? Where are there differences?
7. In what way do the trees in question 5 suggest that some of these species of blood flukes have switched hosts?
