Answer
An example is Taenia, an
endoparasitic tapeworm in human intestine.
Main adaptive features
are:
-Posses organs such as
hooks and suckers for attachment to gut wall of host.
-Body covered with outer
thick cuticle resistance to hydrolysis by host enzymes.
-Reduction of sense,
digestive and locomotory organs as the parasite is less dependent
on them.
-Able to respire
anaerobically in the gut.
-The tapeworm has a long
flat ribbon-shaped body (up to 12m long) to increase surface
area for absorption of
pre-digested food.
-The body consists of numerous
proglottids. Each proglottid contains male and female
reproductive organs
(hermaphrodile) allowing cross fertilisation or self-fertilisation if
only tapeworm is present and production
of many eggs.
-A secondary host is used
as a vector for wider dispersal.
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