Infestations and human evolution: lice vs. warts

March 19, 2018 8:57 PM

From my layperson's skim of the literature, it seems pretty clear that warts and lice have been around a long time and have evolved along with their human hosts. But I can't even begin to discern where they sit in relation to each other on a timeline. In the long history of humanity, which came first: warts (or let's just say skin viruses) or lice (or let's just say parasitic insects)?
posted by Morpeth to Science & Nature (5 answers total)

Both of those things probably predate our species, and evolved with us and on us from earlier hominids, and likely arose on land mammals even earlier than that.
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:50 PM on March 19, 2018 [4 favorites]

Best answer: This is a great question! Here is some fun information about speciation of cooties and what it tells about when people started wearing clothing.
posted by bq at 9:52 PM on March 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: And here's an article about diversity and evolution of HPV, the virus that causes warts.
posted by bq at 9:55 PM on March 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

Best answer: And be aware that for humans, lice means at least three things: head lice, body lice or pubic lice and they have different origins, we believe.
posted by plinth at 5:04 AM on March 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: All these linked articles are amazing. Thank you all. It's fascinating to see how much of our knowledge about human evolution is indebted to dna evidence provided by viruses, insects, and other uninvited companion species.
posted by Morpeth at 6:56 PM on March 20, 2018