Evolution
The origins of this genus remain unclear. For many years it was believed that this genus had an African origin but DNA sequencing suggests that the species (S. edwardiense and S. hippopotami) that infect the hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius) could be basal. Since hippos were present in both Africa and Asia during the Cenozoic era the genus might have originated as parasites of hippos. The original hosts for the South East Asian species were probably rodents.
The sister group to Schistosoma is a genus of elephant-infecting schistosomes - Bivitellobilharzia. The cattle, sheep, goat and cashmere goat parasite Orientobilharzia turkestanicum appears to be related to the African schistosomes.
Within the haematobium group S. bovis and S. curassoni appear to be closely related as do S. leiperi and S. mattheei.
S. mansoni appears to have evolved in East Africa 0.43-0.30 million years ago.
S. incognitum and S. nasale are more closely related to the African species rather than the japonicum group.
S. sinensium appears to have radiated during the Pliocene.
S. mekongi appears to have invaded South East Asia in the mid-Pleistocene.
Estimated speciation dates for the japonicum group: ~3.8 million years ago for S. japonicum/South East Asian schistosoma and ~2.5 million years ago for S. malayensis/S. mekongi.
Read more about this topic: Schistosoma
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