Why are there parasites, and why do they exist on Earth if all they do is harm people? Nothing eats parasites, so why are they existing?
2006-09-13 11:55:59 · 9 answers · asked by Cynthia K 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
To feed on our useless bodies after we pass on...
To release nitrogen and methane, on a collective level, into the atmosphere...
To help keep the population in check
Look at animals, perfect balance but since us humans learned to defeat them, we became dominant destroying everything and removing balance.
2006-09-13 11:59:20 · answer #1 · answered by supercalofragilistic 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Play three choruses of "The Circle of Life" while you read this.
A creature does not have to be good for US to exist. Surely you know that. And it does not have to be good for its host, although there are ways in which they are. It just has to be a survivor.
Now, parasites are survivors unless they kill off all the host species they mostly prefer. So they learn how to do it selectively, to protect their own hosts. So we have parasites, but they are rarely fatal to us, unless they carry parasites themselves, as in the case of the rat, the flea on the rat, and the bubonic bacillus in the flea.
Why have we not killed off all the parasites that threaten us and our food supply? Sadly, we mostly have, at least in the developed countries. Problem is, humans are now grossly overpopulating this planet because they have gotten good at killing off what kills them, except of course each other.
I do not suggest that we should give up the fight against parasites, but only that we attempt to restore balance, rather than dominance. I have no favorite plan to propose, but I do know that something's going to give way; either us or the viability of the planet itself.
Because the checks and balances are necessary. Kill off the predators and the herbivores destroy your crops. Kill off the parasites and their hosts will overpopulate (even worse than we have already), crowding out the species that compete for food and living space.
2006-09-13 12:14:07 · answer #2 · answered by auntb93again 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, take humans for instance. The word parasites can be translated into many different ways. Not just concerning the Biological way.
Humans can be parasites and smarotzers cause they suck everything they can out of some one. Meaning taking advanctage of some one else.
That is one meaning in life for them.
Otherwise it belongs to the natural food chain. Its a cycle of life. Eaten and being eaten just for the fact of survival.
2006-09-13 12:00:58 · answer #3 · answered by angelikabertrand64 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some parasites are useful in life, especially back before modern medicine. Maggots were used to eat decaying flesh around a wound, and leeches were used to suck out some of the blood in a sick person in an attempt to cure them. There are more examples but I can't think of them right now. If they come to my mind later I will repost. (several things eat parasites, bats eat mosquitos and I'm sure birds do not care if they are eating ticks or mosquito's as well)
2006-09-13 12:00:46 · answer #4 · answered by ewehouse 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You ask that as if you think that god invented the world's wildlife, and are thus wondering why he would create parasites, diseases, etc.
Parasites evolved by natural selection. While they seem "bad", they serve a beneficial role in their eco-system. Picture a bird on a rhino's back, eating the parasites on the rhino's skin. Without them, the bird doesnt get that meal.
Only humans serve no beneficial role in their ecosystem, so you might ask yourself why humans exist, since all they do is kill and eat animals, destroy rain forests, dump polution everywhere, etc.
2006-09-13 12:01:34 · answer #5 · answered by Phil S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A type parasites, lamprey, eats salmons and salmons also eat them. Also, sea lions can eat lamprey. Would you have it eat a disgusting lamprey or a valued kingfish?
The parasites are alternative food for the sea lions to eat instead of a endangered species.
Hope this helps!!
2006-09-13 12:03:51 · answer #6 · answered by ccjcjl 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For example,maggots.They eat dead tissue.In Nature they "cleanse" the earth of dead remains.In the old days,and sometimes today they rid a healthy body of infected tissue,and do not harm the healthy,like a wound.To keep the infection from spreading.
2006-09-13 12:26:37 · answer #7 · answered by Rich B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think parasites have 2 kind some of the useful some of them harmful
like they eat dead bodies , wastes to protect the circle of enviroment
2006-09-13 12:05:26 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do humans exist? To perform the same exact function as any other living thing...To survive by any means necessary.
2006-09-13 11:59:49 · answer #9 · answered by Mikey 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋