Trichuris | |
---|---|
Egg of Trichuris sp. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Nematoda |
Class: | Enoplea |
Order: | Trichocephalida |
Family: | Trichuridae |
Genus: | Trichuris Roederer, 1761 |
Species | |
Several, see text |
Trichuris (synonym Trichocephalus[1]), often referred to as whipworms or the silent serpent (which typically refers to T. trichiura only in medicine, and to any other species in veterinary medicine), is a genus of parasitic helminths from the roundworm family Trichuridae. The name whipworm refers to the shape of the worm; they look like whips with wider "handles" at the posterior end.