While there are numerous species of the genus Plasmodium that affect humans, the disease we understand as severe malaria is caused by Plasmodium falciparum, a human apicomplex, protozoan intraerythrocytic parasite, which in its evolution managed to pass from other animals to primates and humans. Malaria is an endemic disease in many countries that affects a population of millions of people and is associated with high annual mortality, especially among sub-Saharan African children under five. However, is it possible that the disease is a consequence of the efforts of a species to adapt better to its living conditions? In the present work the possibility is evaluated and discussed that the disease, as a means of selective pressure would be an engine of evolution in the adaptation of the parasite to its host.