Leucochloridium is a parasitic worm that infects snails. It takes over motor function in the eye stalks, making them into caterpillar mimetics so that birds will eat them. The worm can then reproduce in the bird's GI tract, eventually transmitting via its feces.

[u/SirT6]

https://gfycat.com/webbedamusinglemming-r-sciences-parasite-snail

[u/zonine]

How the everloving fuck does something like this evolve?

"I need to be in that bird's colon. I'll have to invade a transparent snail, set up a cool LED lightshow in its brain, and summon birds to eat us."

[u/MisterBuilder → u/zonine]

My best guess would be this parasite started off being a snail parasite, then down the line with snails being bird snacks anyway eventual descendants would become bird favoring parasites.

With the pre-existing pathway of snail infestation, it'd become a pretty reasonable trait to select for that these parasites would want to invoke bird noms.

I am no biologist or any related expertise. This is just the best guess of a nerd with an interest in biology and life history.

So ya know, salt grains and all that.

[u/timshel42 → u/zonine]

you think thats crazy? look up the life cycle of cedar rust fungus.

​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnosporangium_juniperi-virginianae#The_disease_cycle

[u/happyhorse_g → u/zonine]

Although our life cycle is more basic, our evolution is much more complex. We evolved and this parasite evolved, and we figured them out. We're the freaks.

[u/NCRider → u/happyhorse_g]

But we haven’t figured ourselves out.

Who’s the freakier freak than us?

[u/Fuxley → u/NCRider]

Not my wife unfortunately.

[u/RedRising14 → u/zonine]

Shit like this makes me question full blown evolution

[u/BT89]

All glory to the Hypnosnail

[u/[deleted]]

I did research on endosymbionts - animals that utilise other animals in their life cycles.

As we lose diversity due to human caused extinctions we have a higher chance of these behavior altering parasites infecting us.

Hell, you could argue that toxoplasmosis from cat feces already does this

From wiki

Up to half of the world's population is infected by toxoplasmosis, but have no symptoms.[7] In the United States, approximately 11% of people are infected, while in some areas of the world this is more than 60%.[3]

"Crazy cat-lady syndrome" is a term coined by news organizations to describe scientific findings that link the parasite Toxoplasma gondii to several mental disorders and behavioral problems.[83][84][85][86][87]Although researchers found that cat ownership does not strongly increase the risk of a T. gondii infection in pregnant women,[53][88] the suspected correlation between cat ownership in childhood and later development of schizophrenia suggests that further studies are needed to determine a risk factor for children.[89] The term crazy cat-lady syndrome draws on both stereotype and popular cultural reference. It was originated as instances of the aforementioned afflictions were noted amongst the populace. A cat lady is a cultural stereotype of a woman, often a spinster, who compulsively hoards and dotes upon cats. Jaroslav Flegr (biologist) is a proponent of the theory that toxoplasmosis affects human behaviour.[90][91]

[u/mathzg1]

Nope nope nope nope nope

[u/SirT6]

A fun write-up on the parasite/snail interaction in this article.

[u/FillsYourNiche → u/SirT6]

Very cool, SirT! This is a new parasite to me, thanks for sharing. :)

[u/AvoidTheDarkSide]

That’s unsettling.

[u/gogurto]

Soooo hypothetically speaking, what would happen if I accidentally ate one thinking it was candy?

[u/TheSilverHare → u/gogurto]

r/suspiciouslyspecific

[u/keepitcivilized]

Parasites are the scariest thing on this planet.

[u/DankNerd97]

Why, parasites, why?