Each transmission event in complex, multi-host life cycles create obstacles selecting for adaptations by trematodes. One such adaptation is life cycle abbreviation through progenesis, in which the trematode precociously matures and reproduces within the second intermediate host. Progenesis eliminates the need for the definitive host and increases the chance of life cycle completion. However, pr...

Abbreviations of the complex life cycle of trematodes, from three to two hosts, have occurred repeatedly and independently among trematode lineages. This is usually facultative and achieved via progenesis: following encystment in the second intermediate host, the metacercaria develops precociously into an egg-producing adult, bypassing the need to reach a definitive host. Given that it provides...

Alternative transmission strategies are common in many parasitic organisms, often representing discrete phenotypes adopted in response to external cues. The facultative truncation of the normal 3-host life-cycle to a 2-host cycle in many trematodes provides an example: some individuals mature precociously, via progenesis, in their intermediate host and produce eggs without the need to reach a d...

Many animals permanently inhabit the marine interstitium, the space between sand grains [1, 2]. Different evolutionary scenarios may explain the existence of interstitial animals [3, 4]. These scenarios include (1) that the interstitial realm is the ancestral habitat of bilaterians [5, 6], (2) that interstitial taxa evolved from larger ancestors by miniaturization, or (3) progenesis [3]. The fi...

Numerous parasite species have evolved complex life cycles with multiple, subsequent hosts. In trematodes, each transmission event in multi-host life cycles selects for various adaptations, one of which is facultative life cycle abbreviation. This typically occurs through progenesis, i.e., precocious maturity and reproduction via self-fertilization within the second intermediate host. Progenesi...

The complex life cycles of parasites are thought to have evolved from simple one-host cycles by incorporating new hosts. Nevertheless, complex developmental routes present parasites with a sequence of highly unlikely transmission events in order to complete their life cycles. Some trematodes like Coitocaecum parvum use facultative life cycle abbreviation to counter the odds of trophic transmiss...

The typical three-host life cycle of most trematodes creates transmission challenges for which a variety of adaptations have evolved to increase the probability of transmission. Some species can abbreviate their life cycle via progenesis, the precocious maturation of the parasite in the second intermediate host resulting in the production of eggs through self-fertilisation without requiring a d...

Precocious egg production, i.e. progenesis, has been documented for a number of species in scattered reports throughout the trematode literature. The last 2 extensive studies on the subject date from Buttner in the early 1950s (in French) and from Tang in the early 1980s (in Chinese). Overall, 43 species were then known for their ability to produce eggs at the metacercarial stage while still in...