From: Live Science
by Charles Q. Choi, Live Science Contributor | February 12, 2008 05:46am ET
Head lice from 1,000-year-old mummies in Peru are shedding light on the spread of humans and diseases to the Americas.
These new findings suggest, for example, that Columbus did not bring these parasites to the New World — although Vikings might have, scientists added.
"It's kind of quirky that a parasite we love to hate can actually inform us how we traveled around the globe," said researcher David Reed of the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.MORE
by Charles Q. Choi, Live Science Contributor | February 12, 2008 05:46am ET
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| A Chiribaya mummy
from Peru showing intact hair that is still braided. Lice from the hair
of such mummies is shedding light on the migration patterns of
America’s earliest humans. Credit: Dr. Sonia Guillen. |
Head lice from 1,000-year-old mummies in Peru are shedding light on the spread of humans and diseases to the Americas.
These new findings suggest, for example, that Columbus did not bring these parasites to the New World — although Vikings might have, scientists added.
"It's kind of quirky that a parasite we love to hate can actually inform us how we traveled around the globe," said researcher David Reed of the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.MORE
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