Yes … are Flukes obsessed with the songs of songbirds?
Parasitic Worms - Aggressive Mimicry
The flukes (Trematoda) are a class of parasitic worms belonging to the
phylum Platyhelminthes. One species, Leucochloridium macrostomum,
resides principally in the intestine of songbirds. The eggs of the
parasite pass to the outside in the feces of the birds and are readily
ingested by a terrestrial snail, Succinea, an inhabitant of waterlogged
meadows and riverbanks. The parasite eggs hatch into the first larval
form within the snail. The next stage, called the sporocyst, is
strikingly green in colour and bears yellow-brown rings. The sporocyst
develops in the snail tissues and carries several sacs of “spores,” one
of which is placed into each of the snail’s tentacles, or eyestalks. The
sac then begins to pulsate violently, at about 40 to 70 beats per
minute. The tentacle of the snail becomes greatly enlarged and
eventually is transformed into a transparent covering over the pulsating
sporocyst. Succinea usually avoids light, but specimens with this
parasite do not. When the snail appears with its conspicuous, pulsing
eyestalks, birds mistake the eyestalks for insect larvae, bite them off,
and eat them. Within the bird, the sporocyst then hatches into the final
larval stage, which grows into an adult worm. In the meantime the
snail’s eyestalk regenerates, and the cycle is repeated when another sac
passes into the new eyestalks. Because the sporocysts of other
trematodes are neither brightly coloured nor mobile, it can be concluded
that the colour and pulsation of Leucochloridium are adaptations for
arousing the interest of the insectivorous birds. Under normal
circumstances the host birds do not eat snails, so the sporocyst must
imitate the bird’s proper food in order to be eaten and to complete its
life cycle in the bird host. The process represents an unusual case of
aggressive mimicry, for the parasite manipulates its hosts and causes
the bird to infect itself with the parasite.
So, no matter what, THE God is always off the hook?
Back to those who…help themselves?
And what exactly could mankind do if an asteroid the size of a mountain [one the guys tracking these things missed] smashes into earth, say, next month? Or a meteor? Or a super nova? Or a gamma ray burst? Or on and on in this enormously violent universe.