Italian physician, naturalist, biologist & poet Francesco Redi died #OTD in 1697.
A rationalist of his time, he was a critic of spontaneous generation. He disproved that vipers drink wine & could break glasses, and that their venom was poisonous when ingested. He correctly observed that snake venoms were produced from the fangs, not the gallbladder, as was believed. He was also the first to recognize and correctly describe details of about 180 parasites. via @wikipedia
Urda buechneri is a species of potentially parasitic isopod from the Middle Jurassic of Germany that was described by @mcranium et al. in 2023. The paper that describes U. buechneri also discusses how the genus Urda fits on the isopod family tree and how the associated fossils relate to the extant isopod family Gnathiidae.
"Climate change and the rapid evolution of the insect have helped drive up malaria deaths and brought dengue and other mosquito-borne viruses to places that never had to worry about them."
Living python roundworm found in the brain of an Australian woman who "was so courageous and wonderful,” Senanayake said. “You don’t want to be the first patient in the world with a roundworm found in pythons and we really take our hats off to her. She’s been wonderful.”