Comparative morphology of kinetoplastids

Abstract

The common structural plan of bodonids, cryptobiids and trypanosomatids permits placing them in one phylum Kinetoplastidae. Analysis of evolutionary changes in the initial "bodonid" structural plan in separate groups within the Kinetoplastidae, illustrated by an evolutionary series of homologous characters, enables us to conclude that the cryptobiids occupy an intermediate position in kinetoplastid evolution between the free-living bodonids and Trypanosoma spp from lower vertebrates and can be considered to be potential ancestors of the latter.