Trichuris
| 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), 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.