Re: New extinction theory

[Dora Smith <villandra@austin.rr.com>]

Well, the thing is, if all it says is that molecular differences made the
dinosaurs go extinct, one could read anything into it.   Genetic
differences,   hypothetical but unsupported relationships between genetic
differences and other factors, environmental poisoning, you name it.

>From the abstract that was posted here I don't know for a fact that nothing
more specific than the dinosaurs had different molecules is in the paper.
It doesn't even say if the difference is in molecules of DNA, though that is
one current meaning of the term molecular.

 Since a specific meaning or context of molecular is not specified, the
implication is that hte dinosaurs just had some difference in their
molecules, that made them different from all other life forms, and caused
them to go extinct.

Well, actually, there is mention of different amino acids, but it rather
suggests that the dinosaurs had some amino acid no other life form managed,
and THAT made them go extinct!   Like, what's the specific amino acid, and
what is it supposed to have done to them?

Yours,
Dora Smith
Austin, Texas
villandra@austin.rr.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Donovan" <uwrk2@yahoo.com>
To: <afarke@ic.sunysb.edu>
Cc: <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 5:50 AM
Subject: Re: New extinction theory


> Could this be a rehash of Zhao's theory that the
> dinosaurs were poisoned, based on high concentrations
> of trace elements in pathological dinosaur eggshell
> from the Pingling formation? Maybe they think the
> dinosaurs were more susceptible to poisoning, or
> infertility resulting from it?
>
> --- "Andrew A. Farke" <afarke@ic.sunysb.edu> wrote:
>
> > I haven't had a chance to read through this yet (or
> > will I in the near
> > future), but figured it might be of interest to some
> > on the list.
> >
> > Wang, G.-Z., B.-G. Ma, Y. Yang, and H.-Y. Zhang.
> > Unexpected amino acid
> > composition of modern Reptilia and its implications
> > in molecular mechanisms
> > of dinosaur extinction. Biochemical and Biophysical
> > Research Communications
> > In Press, Corrected Proof.
> >
> > Dinosaur extinction is a great challenge to
> > evolutionary biology. Although
> > accumulating evidence suggests that an abrupt change
> > of environment, such as
> > a long period of low temperature induced by asteroid
> > hit or other disasters,
> > may be responsible for dinosaur extinction, little
> > is known about the
> > underlying molecular mechanisms. By analyzing the
> > amino acid compositions of
> > 13 biological classes, we found that the charged
> > amino acid content of
> > modern Reptilia, the sibling of dinosaur, is
> > strikingly different from those
> > of other classes, which inspires us to propose a
> > possible molecular
> > mechanism for dinosaur extinction.
> >
> > ________________________________
> > Andrew A. Farke, Graduate Student
> > Department of Anatomical Sciences
> > Stony Brook University
> > T8 040 Health Sciences Center
> > Stony Brook, NY  11794-8081
> >
> > Phone: 631-444-7364
> > Email: afarke@ic.sunysb.edu
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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