capitis, and the pubic louse Pthirus pubis8,9.
spinulosa, have 11 minichromosomes10 and the human pubic louse, Pt. pubis, has 14 minichromosomes9 (3 genes not identified; Fig. 6).
Humans have the distinction of being host to three different kinds: the head louse, the body louse and the pubic louse.
The louse most nearly related to the human body louse is that of the chimpanzee, and to the human pubic louse that of the gorilla.
The human pubic louse, on the other hand, is related to the gorilla louse, from which it parted company some 13 million years ago.
The pubic louse is found in the hair of the pubic region and occasionally the armpits, the eyebrows, and the beard.
The report explains: "Examination of the head hair and pubic hair … revealed a double infestation with two different species of lice, Pediculus capitis, the head louse, and Phthirus pubis, the pubic louse".
After the discovery that the modern human pubic louse is evolved from the gorilla louse, scientists coyly suggested that our ancestors 3m years ago might have caught these parasites by sleeping in old gorilla nests.
Our ancestors separated from gorilla ancestors further back – some 13m years ago – but geneticists have found that the human pubic louse is related to the gorilla louse and the parasite only adapted to our ancestor's pubic region 3m years ago.
Pubic louse, (Phthirus pubis), also called crab louse, sucking louse in the human louse family, Pediculidae (suborder Anoplura, order Phthiraptera), that is found principally at the pubic and perianal areas, occasionally on the hairs of the thighs and abdomen, and rarely on other hairy regions of the human body.
The 34 mt genes identified in the human pubic louse, Pthirus pubis, are on 14 minichromosomes9; the 34 mt genes identified in the rat louse, Hoplopleura kitti, are on 11 minichromosomes; and the 28 mt genes identified in the mouse louse, Ho. akanezumi, are on 10 minichromosomes10.
