Laelaps
Encyclopedia
The name Laelaps is a name attributed to the following:
- Laelaps (mythology)Laelaps (mythology)Laelaps was a Greek mythological dog who never failed to catch what he was hunting. In one version of Laelaps' origin, he was a gift from Zeus to Europa. The hound was passed down to King Minos. Minos had been cursed by his wife; he ejaculated scorpions and spiders that would devour the genitals...
was a Greek mythological dog who never failed to catch what he was hunting. - Laelaps (mite)Laelaps (mite)Laelaps is a genus of common parasitic mites in the family Laelapidae. Species, with their hosts, include:*Laelaps acuminata – Oecomys*Laelaps agilis – Rattus...
is a genus of mitesMITESMITES, or Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science, is a highly selective six-week summer program for rising high school seniors held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its purpose is to expose students from minority, or otherwise disadvantaged backgrounds, to the fields of...
which are ectoparasites of rodents. The most familiar species is the spiny rat mite Laelaps echidninus, because it is a common parasite of fancy ratFancy ratThe fancy rat is a domesticated brown rat , which is the most common type of pet rat. The name fancy rat derives from the idea of animal fancy or the phrase "to fancy" ....
s. - Laelaps (dinosaur) The dinosaur DryptosaurusDryptosaurusDryptosaurus was a genus of primitive tyrannosaur that lived in Eastern North America during the middle Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period. Although largely unknown now outside of academic circles, a famous painting of the genus by Charles R...
was originally referred to by the name Laelaps until it was discovered that the mite (above) was named first. Many species formerly attributed to the defunct genus are dubious or have been reclassified, such as AlbertosaurusAlbertosaurusAlbertosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, more than 70 million years ago. The type species, A. sarcophagus, was apparently restricted in range to the modern-day Canadian province of Alberta, after which...
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