An improved understanding of how a parasite species exploits its genetic repertoire to colonize novel hosts and environmental niches is crucial to establish the epidemiological risk associated with emergent pathogenic genotypes. T rypanosoma cruzi , a genetically heterogeneous, multi‐host zoonosis, provides an ideal system to examine the sylvatic diversification of parasitic protozoa. In B olivia, T . cruzi I, the oldest and m...