Board Thread:Fossil Fuels/@comment-3213993-20150324054809

Would we be able to deduce dinosaur mitochondrial genomes by comparing the mitochondrial genomes of turtles, birds and crocodilians? I think so, but nobody has tried to deduce ancestral mitochondrial genes or genomes like with nuclear genes and genomes before. Bird and turtle mitochondria are very similar, while crocodilians are more derived.

The length of the mitochondrial genomes in the American rhea (bird), African softshell turtle (turtle) and Nile crocodile (crocodilian) are 16,714, 16,590, and 16,830 base pairs respectively. The mitochondrial genomes in the chicken (bird), green sea turtle (turtle) and American alligator (crocodilian) are 16,785, 16,497, and 16,646 base pairs long respectively. Therefore, I think the genomes of early saurischian dinosaurs and theropods were somewhere around the latter 16,000s mark. 