Editing Plasmodium (section)

===Phylogeny===

More recent studies of ''Plasmodium'' species using molecular methods have implied that the group's evolution has not perfectly followed taxonomy.<ref name=TOL>{{cite web |url=http://tolweb.org/Plasmodium/68071 |access-date=1 June 2016 |title=''Plasmodium'' |publisher=Tree of Life Web Project |author1=Zilversmit, M. |author2=Perkins, S.}}</ref> Many ''Plasmodium'' species that are morphologically similar or infect the same hosts turn out to be only distantly related.<ref name=Rich2003>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/S0065-308X(03)54005-2 |pmid=14711087 |title=Progress in Malaria Research: the Case for Phylogenetics |volume=54 |pages=255–80 |year=2003 |last1=Rich |first1=S. |last2=Ayala |first2=F |series=Advances in Parasitology |isbn=978-0-12-031754-7}}</ref> In the 1990s, several studies sought to evaluate evolutionary relationships of ''Plasmodium'' species by comparing [[ribosomal RNA]] and a surface protein gene from various species, finding the human parasite ''P. falciparum'' to be more closely related to avian parasites than to other parasites of primates.<ref name=Perkins2014/> However, later studies sampling more ''Plasmodium'' species found the parasites of mammals to form a clade along with the genus ''[[Hepatocystis]]'', while the parasites of birds or lizards appear to form a separate clade with evolutionary relationships not following the subgenera:<ref name=Perkins2014/><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2007.11.012 |pmid=18248741 |title=A three-genome phylogeny of malaria parasites (''Plasmodium'' and closely related genera): Evolution of life-history traits and host switches |vauthors=Martinsen ES, Perkins SL, Schall JJ |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=47 |issue=1 |date=April 2008 |pages=261–273}}</ref>

{{clade| style=font-size:85%;line-height:85%
|1=''[[Leucocytozoon]]'' 
|2={{clade
    |1=''[[Haemoproteus]]''
    |label2=''Plasmodium''
    |2= {{clade
        |1=''Plasmodium'' of lizards and birds
        |2= {{clade
            |1=Subgenus ''Laverania''
            |2={{clade
                |1=Subgenus ''Plasmodium''
                |2=Subgenus ''Vinckeia''
                |3=''[[Hepatocystis]]'' (parasites of bats)
                }}
            }}
        }}
    }} 
}}

Estimates for when different ''Plasmodium'' lineages diverged have differed broadly. Estimates for the diversification of the order Haemosporida range from around 16.2 million to 100 million years ago.<ref name=Perkins2014/> There has been particular interest in dating the divergence of the human parasite ''P. falciparum'' from other ''Plasmodium'' lineages due to its medical importance. For this, estimated dates range from 110,000 to 2.5 million years ago.<ref name=Perkins2014/>