Multisentis myrmecobius, gen. et. sp. nov. (Acanthocephala: Oligacanthorhynchidae), from the Numbat, Myrmecobius fasciatus, and a Key to Genera of the Oligacanthorhynchidae

Abstract

A new genus and a new species of acanthocephalan are described from the numbat Myrmecobius fasciatus, a termite-eating marsupial from south-western Australia. Multisentis myrmecobius belongs to the family Oligacanthorhynchidae and a key to the genera of this family is given. The life cycle is presumed to involve termites as the intermediate host. The definitive host-parasite relationship is assumed to have evolved since the origins of M. fasciatus from ancestral marsupial forms before the late Miocene.