Crocodile blood may yield powerful new antibiotics

[Allan Edels <edels@msn.com>]

Link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050816/sc_nm/australia_crocodile_dc

Some interesting info about Archosaurian immune systems.

See these paragraphs (among others):

"The crocodile's immune system is much more powerful than that of humans, 
preventing life-threatening infections after savage territorial fights which 
often leave the animals with gaping wounds and missing limbs.

"They tear limbs off each other and despite the fact that they live in this 
environment with all these microbes, they heal up very rapidly and normally 
almost always without infection," said U.S. scientist Mark Merchant, who has 
been taking crocodile blood samples in the Northern Territory.
"

Also, croc blood serum kills HIV more than human serum.

Allan Edels