the mitochondria that the erythrocytes also lose may protect the erythrocytes against oxidative stress. Subgenera The full taxonomic name of a species includes the subgenus but this is often omitted in practice. The full name indicates some features of the morphology and type of host species. Sixteen subgenera are currently recognised. The avian species were discovered soon after the description of P. falciparum and a variety of generic names were created. These were subsequently placed into the genus Plasmodium although some workers continued to use the genera Laverinia and Proteosoma for P. falciparum and the avian species respectively. The 5th and 6th Congresses of Malaria held at Istanbul (1953) and Lisbon (1958) respectively recommended the creation and use of subgenera in this genus. Laverinia was applied to the species infecting humans and Haemamoeba to those infecting lizards and birds. This proposal was not universally accepted. Bray in 1955 proposed a definition for the subgenus Plasmodium and a second for the subgenus Laverinia in 1958. Garnham described a third subgenus - Vinckeia - in 1964. In 1963 Corradetti, Garnham and Laird proposed a new classification of the avian malaria parasites. They created four sub-genera - Giovannolaia, Haemamoeba, Huffia and Novyella - based on the size of the schizonts, the gametocyte forms and the type of exo-erythrocytic schizogony. Additional subgenera have been created since. The currently recognised subgenera are listed below. Asiamoeba Telford 1988 Bennettinia Valkiūnas 1997 Carinamoeba Garnham 1966 Giovannolaia Corradetti, Garnham & Laird 1963 Haemamoeba Grassi & Feletti 1890 Huffia Garnham & Laird 1963 Lacertaemoba Telford 1988 Laverania Bray 1958 Novyella Corradetti, Garnham & Laird 1963 Nyssorhynchus Poinar 2005 Ophidiella Garnham 1966 Papernaia Landau et al 2010 Paraplasmodium Telford 1988 Plasmodium Bray 1963 emend. Garnham 1964 Sauramoeba Garnham 1966 Vinckeia Garnham 1964 Classification criteria for subgenera The current classification scheme was developed prior to the widespread use of DNA sequence based taxonomy and is based on host and morphological criteria. Plasmodium has since been shown to be paraphytic with the genera Haemoproteus and Hepatocystis (vide infra). Revision of this genus will be undertaken once sufficient DNA sequence material is available. This forthcoming reclassification project is not unique to this genus as DNA based taxonomy is revising many traditional groupings of protozoa. The bird infecting taxa can be separated into two groups on the basis of the gametocytes: species with round gametocytes (Bennettinia, Haemamoeba) and species with elongated gametocytes (Giovanniola, Huffia