<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <P> Haemamoeba malariae Feletti and Grassi, 1889 Plasmodium malariae var . quartanae Celli and Sanfelice, 1891 Plasmodium malariae quartanae Kruse, 1892 Haemamoeba laverani var . quartanae Labbe, 1894 Plasmodium rodhaini Brumpt, 1939 </P> </Td> </Tr> <P> Haemamoeba malariae Feletti and Grassi, 1889 Plasmodium malariae var . quartanae Celli and Sanfelice, 1891 Plasmodium malariae quartanae Kruse, 1892 Haemamoeba laverani var . quartanae Labbe, 1894 Plasmodium rodhaini Brumpt, 1939 </P> <P> Plasmodium malariae is a parasitic protozoa that causes malaria in humans . It is one of several species of Plasmodium parasites that infect humans including Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax which are responsible for most malarial infection . While found worldwide, it is a so - called "benign malaria" and is not nearly as dangerous as that produced by P. falciparum or P. vivax . It causes fevers that recur at approximately three - day intervals (a quartan fever), longer than the two - day (tertian) intervals of the other malarial parasites, hence its alternative names quartan fever and quartan malaria . </P> <P> Malaria has been recognized since the Greek and Roman civilizations over 2,000 years ago, with different patterns of fever described by the early Greeks . In 1880, Alphonse Laveran discovered that the causative agent of malaria is a parasite . Detailed work of Golgi in 1886 demonstrated that in some patients there was a relationship between the 72 - hour life cycle of the parasite and the chill and fever patterns in the patient . The same observation was found for parasites with 48 - hour cycles . Golgi concluded that there must be more than one species of malaria parasite responsible for these different patterns of infection . </P>

What group of organisms does the causitive agent of malaria belong to