2 days ago
'See you later, alligator' gets new meaning in science
A parasitic flatworm found in the eye of an alligator is named after North-West University's Professor Louis Du Preez.
Image: Supplied.
The parasitic flatworm found in the eye of alligator in the US has been named after South African parasitologist, Professor Louis Du Preez.
Image: Supplied.
WHO said science was dull? Not when a newly discovered parasite is named with a wink to the classic slang, 'See you later, alligator.'
After decades of poking crocodilians in the eye, South African parasitologist Prof Louis du Preez has been honoured for his work by having a parasite named after him: Latergator louisdupreezi.
Du Preez, from North-West University, is a parasitologist and herpetologist who focuses his research on amphibians and their parasites.
Chuckling this week, Du Preez told the Independent on Saturday that he was honoured that a team of US researchers named a parasitic flatworm, which was found in the eye of an alligator, after him.
'Other people will probably have pity for me, but for me it's a great honour.'
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'The reason for that was I've been working on this group of flatworms for more than 30 years now, and for 30 years I've been looking for this parasite on the eye of a crocodile, because we find this type of parasite on the eye of freshwater turtles and on the eye of the hippopotamus. And I've always suspected that one day we will find it in the eye of a crocodilian.'
Crocodilians include crocodiles, alligators and gavials.
Determined to prove his theory, Du Preez dissected crocodiles at crocodile farms in South Africa and examined animals that had been removed from nature. In the US, he dissected more than a hundred alligators looking for the parasite.
He even swam with alligators for some of his research.
'So it's living on the surface of the eye and it's living off the mucus on the surface of the eye. It doesn't harm the crocodile at all, or the turtle or the hippo, but it may irritate them a little bit. So they are parasites because they live off another animal, but they don't kill the animal, they don't harm them. It is just evolutionary, a very old association that developed over a very long time, and so we use the parasites. By studying the phylogeny of the parasites we learn more about the hosts and how the hosts evolved and spread over the world.'
For example, they established that some of the parasites from turtles in America jumped onto turtles in Europe, because people imported turtles from America, and scientists were able to trace the route back to the turtles from America.
'But this one now in the crocodile or in the alligator, that's a very first. And maybe one day we will find one in Africa, but there are no guarantees.'
So what does this discovery mean for science?
'For us as parasitologists, it will provide quite a lot of information regarding the evolutionary development of these parasites. And I suspect that the parasite got transferred or migrated from a freshwater turtle to a crocodile. It's the same type of parasite. The turtles are evolutionarily way out, and the crocodile is a bit younger. And we will have to confirm at the molecular level.'
In May next year, Du Preez will join the US researchers who named the parasite after him and, he hopes, find more of these parasites.
'There will be a crocodile culling event, or alligator cull, because there are too many of them in this part of America. And then they will allow us to have a look at the carcasses.'
Du Preez previously named two parasites, one after his supervisor in Bloemfontein, another after a well-known professor in France, and another person in the US.
'Science is great and even today we find new things. And that's the beauty of science, it's that search for the unknown. And I hope that through my work and research that I inspire young people. And I try to, with the projects that we give students, to create opportunities for students to not only to enjoy but also to appreciate nature.'
