Re: Croc blood battles superbugs

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Phillip Bigelow wrote:
> 
> BBC news story at:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_680000/680840.stm
> 
> I wonder if the same chemical, or a variation of it, is found in birds?

Frogs and salamanders have something similar, and I suspect the slime coating on
fish may play a similar role. Perhaps it has more to do with an aquatic
lifestyle (swamps are notorious places for disease, if that's not an old
cliche).

Could perhaps preening oil in some birds also have such chemicals in it? Those
that need the most oil tend to be water birds. I know that cockatoos grow an
antibacterial powder on their feathers, which they spread while grooming (a
scratching cockatoo is usually enveloped in a cloud of white dust).

-- 
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        Dann Pigdon
        GIS Archaeologist
        Melbourne, Australia

        Australian Dinosaurs:
        http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
        http://www.geocities.com/dannj.geo
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