Parasites and infectious diseases are everywhere and represent some of the most potent forces shaping the natural world. They affect almost every aspect imaginable in the life of their hosts, even as far as the structure of entire ecosystems. Hosts, in turn, have evolved complex defences, with immune systems being among the most sophisticated processes known in nature. In response, parasites have again found ways to manipulate and exploit their hosts. Ever since life began, hosts and parasites have taken part in this relentless co-evolutionary struggle with far-reaching consequences for us all. Today, concepts borrowed from evolution, ecology, parasitology, and immunology have formed a new synthesis for the study of host-parasite interactions. Evolutionary parasitology builds on these established fields of scientific enquiry but also includes some of the most successful inter-disciplinary areas of modern biology such as evolutionary epidemiology and ecological immunology. The first edition of this innovative text quickly became the standard reference text for this new discipline. Since then, the field has progressed rapidly and an update is now required. This new edition has been thoroughly revised to provide a state-of-the-art overview, from the molecular bases to adaptive strategies and their ecological and evolutionary consequences. It includes completely new material on topics such as microbiota, evolutionary genomics, phylodynamics, within-host evolution, epidemiology, disease spaces, and emergent diseases. Evolutionary Parasitology is suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate level students, and interdisciplinary researchers from a variety of fields including immunology, genetics, sexual selection, population ecology, behavioural ecology, epidemiology, and evolutionary biology. Those studying and working in adjacent fields such as conservation biology, virology, medicine, and public health will also find it an invaluable resource for connecting to the bases of their science.

Parasites and infectious diseases are everywhere and represent some of the most potent forces shaping the natural world. They affect almost every aspect imaginable in the life of their hosts, even as far as the structure of entire ecosystems. Hosts, in turn, have evolved complex defences, with immune systems being among the most sophisticated processes known in nature. In response, parasites have again found ways to manipulate and exploit their hosts. Ever since life began, hosts and parasites have taken part in this relentless co-evolutionary struggle with far-reaching consequences for us all. Today, concepts borrowed from evolution, ecology, parasitology, and immunology have formed a new synthesis for the study of host-parasite interactions. Evolutionary parasitology builds on these established fields of scientific enquiry but also includes some of the most successful inter-disciplinary areas of modern biology such as evolutionary epidemiology and ecological immunology. The first edition of this innovative text quickly became the standard reference text for this new discipline. Since then, the field has progressed rapidly and an update is now required. This new edition has been thoroughly revised to provide a state-of-the-art overview, from the molecular bases to adaptive strategies and their ecological and evolutionary consequences. It includes completely new material on topics such as microbiota, evolutionary genomics, phylodynamics, within-host evolution, epidemiology, disease spaces, and emergent diseases. Evolutionary Parasitology is suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate level students, and interdisciplinary researchers from a variety of fields including immunology, genetics, sexual selection, population ecology, behavioural ecology, epidemiology, and evolutionary biology. Those studying and working in adjacent fields such as conservation biology, virology, medicine, and public health will also find it an invaluable resource for connecting to the bases of their science.

Parasites are among the most serious threats for any organism. This book brings together the latest knowledge from different fields and traces the basic ecological and evolutionary principles behind the eternal and momentous struggle between hosts and their parasites, providing a synthesis of current understanding.

Parasites have evolved independently in numerous animal lineages, and they now make up a considerable proportion of the biodiversity of life. Not only do they impact humans and other animals in fundamental ways, but in recent years they have become a powerful model system for the study of ecology and evolution, with practical applications in disease prevention. Here, in a thoroughly revised and updated edition of his influential earlier work, Robert Poulin provides an evolutionary ecologist's view of the biology of parasites. He sets forth a comprehensive synthesis of parasite evolutionary ecology, integrating information across scales from the features of individual parasites to the dynamics of parasite populations and the structuring of parasite communities. Evolutionary Ecology of Parasites presents an evolutionary framework for the study of parasite biology, combining theory with empirical examples for a broader understanding of why parasites are as they are and do what they do. An up-to-date synthesis of the field, the book is an ideal teaching tool for advanced courses on the subject. Pointing toward promising directions and setting a research agenda, it will also be an invaluable reference for researchers who seek to extend our knowledge of parasite ecology and evolution.

Series Editor: Peter Calow, Department of Zoology, University of Sheffield, England The main aim of this series will be to illustrate and to explain the way organisms 'make a living' in nature. At the heart of this - their functional biology - is the way organisms acquire and then make use of resources in metabolism, movement, growth, reproduction, and so on. These processes will form the fundamental framework of all the books in the series. Each book will concentrate on a particular taxon (species, family, class or even phylum) and will bring together information on the form, physiology, ecology and evolutionary biology of the group. The aim will be not only to describe how organisms work, but also to consider why they have come to work in that way. By concentration on taxa which are well known, it is hoped that the series will not only illustrate the success of selection, but also show the constraints imposed upon it by the physiological, morphological and developmental limitations of the groups. Another important feature of the series will be its organismic orientation. Each book will emphasize the importance of functional integration in the day to-day lives and the evolution of organisms. This is crucial since, though it may be true that organisms can be considered as collections of gene determined traits, they nevertheless interact with their environment as integrated wholes and it is in this context that individual traits have been subjected to natural selection and have evolved.

Parasites that manipulate the behaviour of their hosts represent striking examples of adaptation by natural selection. This text provides an authoritative review of host manipulation by parasites that assesses developments in the field and lays out a framework for future research.

By joining phylogenetics and evolutionary ecology, this book explores the patterns of parasite diversity while revealing diversification processes.

This two-volume edited book highlights and reviews the potential of the fossil record to calibrate the origin and evolution of parasitism, and the techniques to understand the development of parasite-host associations and their relationships with environmental and ecological changes. The book deploys a broad and comprehensive approach, aimed at understanding the origins and developments of various parasite groups, in order to provide a wider evolutionary picture of parasitism as part of biodiversity. This is in contrast to most contributions by parasitologists in the literature that focus on circular lines of evidence, such as extrapolating from current host associations or distributions, to estimate constraints on the timing of the origin and evolution of various parasite groups. This approach is narrow and fails to provide the wider evolutionary picture of parasitism on, and as part of, biodiversity. Volume one focuses on identifying parasitism in the fossil record, and sheds light on the distribution and ecological importance of parasite-host interactions over time. In order to better understand the evolutionary history of parasites and their relationship with changes in the environment, emphasis is given to viruses, bacteria, protists and multicellular eukaryotes as parasites. Particular attention is given to fungi and metazoans such as bivalves, cnidarians, crustaceans, gastropods, helminths, insects, mites and ticks as parasites. Researchers, specifically evolutionary (paleo)biologists and parasitologists, interested in the evolutionary history of parasite-host interactions as well as students studying parasitism will find this book appealing.

Fleas are one of the most interesting and fascinating taxa of ectoparasites. All species in this relatively small order are obligatory haematophagous (blood-feeding) parasites of higher vertebrates. This book examines how functional, ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes of host-parasite relationships are realized in this particular system. As such it provides an in-depth case study of a host-parasite system, demonstrating how fleas can be used as a model taxon for testing ecological and evolutionary hypotheses. The book moves from basic descriptive aspects, to functional issues and finally to evolutionary explanations. It extracts several general principles that apply equally well to other host-parasite systems, so it appeals not only to flea biologists but also to 'mainstream' parasitologists and ecologists.

This book provides a comprehensive survey of the diversity and biology of metazoan parasites affecting small mammals, of their impact on host individuals and populations, and of the management implications of these parasites for conservation biology and human welfare. Designed for a broad, multidisciplinary audience, the book is an essential resource for researchers, students, and practitioners alike.