Re: a dumb question regarding pterosaur biochemistry

[Phil Bigelow <bigelowp@juno.com>]

I don't know the answer to your question, but I would bet that some clues
could be found in the nitrogen isotope ratios and carbon isotope ratios
found in pterosaur bones.

<pb>
--
"My wife likes to talk during sex.  She used to call me from motel
rooms." - Rodney Dangerfield (1921-2004)


On Sat, 09 Oct 2004 11:24:04 -0700 "James R. Cunningham"
<jrccea@bellsouth.net> writes:
> A question for anyone who may be interested:
> A friend has recently informed me that fish-eating pterosaurs start 
> out
> preferentially burning carbohydrates and sugars for energy just like 
> we
> humans do, and don't burn fats, oils, and protein till much later in 
> a
> flight.  That raised a couple of questions in my mind.  Since fish
> contain essentially no carbohydrates (except for those that might 
> be
> found in their gut), since fish typically have very low glucose and
> glycogen levels, and since pterosaur livers don't seem to be large
> enough to rapidly process large quantites of glycogen from protein
> anyway -- where do these preferentially burned carbohydrates and 
> sugars
> come from?
> Thanks,
> JimC
> 
> 
> 



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