American scientist George Poinar Jr. and his wife Roberta conducted a study of a mosquito fossil found in the Dominican Republic, which carried the modern-type malaria virus. The fossils are carefully studied and are about 20 million years old, but an earlier variant of malaria, carried by blood-sucking midges, existed 100 million years ago. Dinosaurs may have been the first creatures to suffer a fatal illness.
Poinar Jr. believes that the ancestor of malaria was the simplest parasite called gregarine, which could easily infect insects. The scientist hypothesizes that the massive spread of malaria has exposed dinosaurs to extinction and postponed a serious imprint on the development and evolution of animals on Earth 65 million years ago. Dinosaurs have been extinct for several thousand years, therefore, in addition to volcanic eruptions and falling asteroids, the malaria virus could help in their destruction.
In the modern world, a vaccine has not yet been created that gives a 100% guarantee of protection against the malaria virus; human immunity by itself cannot withstand the disease. Poinar hopes that studying the history of the virus will help to find solutions to the problem of the disease for humanity and prevent thousands of people from dying.
Ana McKenzie