Trypanosoma antiquus is an extinct species of kinetoplastid (class Kinetoplastida), a monophyletic group of unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa. The genus name is derived from the Greek trypano (borer) and soma (body) because of their corkscrew-like motion, and the species name from antiquua (old) reflecting the age of the specimen. All trypanosomes are heteroxenous (requiring more than one obligatory host in order to complete life cycle) or are transmitted through some variation of a vector.