In 2009, Ollomo et al. published the complete mitochondrial genome of
Plasmodium gaboni, which was not yet named at the time. The parasite belongs to the
P falciparum/P reichenowi lineage. It has been proposed that
Plasmodium gaboni diverged from the
P falciparum/P reichenowi lineage about 21 million years ago, leading to the conclusion that the ancestor of this parasite
clade could have been already present in
hominid ancestors.
Plasmodium gaboni is similar to both
Plasmodium falciparum and to
Plasmodium reichenowi in microscopic studies, seeming likely that all of these ape
Laverania parasites represent morphologically indistinguishable species. == Distribution ==