Toxoplasma gondii
"Toxoplasma gondii" was first described in 1908 by Nicolle and Manceaux in Tunisia, and independently by Splendore in Brazil. Splendore reported the protozoan in a rabbit, while Nicolle and Manceaux identified it in a North African rodent, the gundi (Ctenodactylus gundi). In 1909 Nicolle and Manceaux differentiated the protozoan from "Leishmania". Nicolle and Manceaux then named it "Toxoplasma gondii" after the curved shape of its infectious stage (Greek root "= bow).