Fallisia is a genus of the family Plasmodiidae

Plasmodiidae

The Plasmodiidae are a family of apicomplexan parasites, including the type genus Plasmodium, which is responsible for malaria. This genus was created in 1903 by Mesnil.They are one of the four families in the order Haemosporida....

The genus was created by Lainson, Landau and Shaw in 1974. A revision of the genus Plasmodium by Levine in 1985 considered this subgenus to be a synonom of Plasmodium. The description of a new species Plasmodium siamense by Telford in 1986 lead to a resurrection of this as a subgenus. Further revision of its taxonomic status has led to its elevation to genus status.

Species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in this genus infect bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

s and lizard

Lizard

Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...

s.

Diagnostic features

Species in this genus have the following characteristics:

The schizonts and gametocyte

Gametocyte

A gametocyte is a eukaryotic germ cell that divides by mitosis into other gametocytes or by meiosis into gametids during gametogenesis. Male gametocytes are called spermatocytes, and female gametocytes are called oocytes....

s are found in the circulating leukocytes and thromobcytes.

Pigment is absent.

Subgenera

There are two recognised subgena - Fallisia Telford 1998 and Plasmodiodes Gabaldon, Ulloa & Zerpa 1985. Species in Fallisia infect lizards and those in Plasmodiodes infect birds.

Until confirmed by molecular methods this classification should be regarded as tentative.

Host distribution

These species infect lizards of the Iguanidae

Iguanidae

Iguanidae is a family of lizards, composed of iguanas and related species.-Classification of Iguanidae:Two different classification schemes have been used to define the structure of this family. These are the "traditional" classification and the classification presented by Frost et al. .Frost et...

 and Teiidae

Teiidae

Teiidae is a family of lizards native to the Americas, generally known as whiptails. The group includes the parthenogenic genera Cnemidophorus and Aspidoscelis, and the non-parthenogenic Tupinambis. It has over 230 member species in ten genera...

. They may also infect the Scincidae.