this post was submitted on 13 May 2024
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Ohh, parasitology is fascinating! I highly recommend it for anyone who likes biology.
My absolute favorite are the tape worms like Taenia solium (pork tapeworm). It's the type of worm that "ate" a portion of RFK's brain. It wasn't really a whole worm but it was probably an egg that he ate in undercooked meat that traveled up his body and calcified in his brain. As Rebecca Watson points out, it's the leading cause of epilepsy worldwide.
Fun nerd facts: They have a spiky head that clings to the intestine and they absorb nutrients through their tegument (their skin). These fuckers are hermaphroditic with hundreds and hundreds of ovaries and testes within the same worm and the bodies are made of individual worm eggs (proglotids) that share a nervous system. That's why they come apart so easily, because each proglotid is its own individual worm that can self-inseminate!
General anatomy:
Look at all those testes and ovaries!
Damn that's terrifying. Good reason to quit pork imo. I like chicken better anyway.
Just make sure to wash your hands, disinfect vegetables and cook meat thoroughly. Lots of parasites can be transmitted this way, it's not just pork!
What a wonderful and random thing to have a favorite of :) keep up the good work my guy
Wtf that's metal, reminds me of those single celled organisms in the ocean coming together to function as one animal
What did they call tape worms before tape was invented?
Laserdisc worms
Dad, what are you doing here??
Interesting name. I see why they shortened it to Tape Worm