Biology 2483A Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Chestnut Blight, Gastrointestinal Tract, Myxoma
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Symbionts: organisms that live in or on other organisms. More than half of earth"s species are symbionts. Our own bodies are habitat for many other species. *figure 13. 3 the human body as habitat for symbionts. A parasite consumes the tissues or body fluids of the organism on which it lives (host) Parasites typically harm, but do not immediately kill, the organisms they eat: they extract nutrients from the host, parasites typically feed on only one or a few host species, but host species have multiple parasite species. Ectoparasites: live on the outer body surface of the host. Endoparasites: live inside their hosts within cells or tissues or in the alimentary canal. Macroparasites: large species such as arthropods and worms. Most species are attacked by more than one kind of parasite: even parasites have parasites. Many parasites are closely adapted to particular host species.