ABSTRACT
The organization and development of bird haemosporidians at the ultrastructure level are difficult. Detailed consideration of these problems is beyond the scope of this book. One can find the main information on the ultrastructure of bird haemosporidians in a number of reviews and monographs (Aikawa, 1971; Aikawa and Sterling, 1974; Fallis et al., 1974; Seed and Manwell, 1977; Aikawa and Seed, 1980; Meis and Verhave, 1988; Wernsdorfer and McGregor, 1988; Paterson and Desser, 1989; Desser and Bennett, 1993). Below, a general characteristic of the ultrastructure of bird haemosporidian parasites is given that is important to solve a series of theoretical problems including those which facilitate the understanding of the phylogenetic relations and evolution of the groups of protists considered.
