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No idea about dinosaurs but some reptilian red blood cells live much longer as in 500+ days for turtles vs 120 for humans. However, it varies widely with mice and chickens having much faster turnover. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000649712...

Five species of salamanders have similar enucleated red blood cells, but I can’t find out how long they last in comparison. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18328681/

One theory is it’s an adaption to having unusually large genomes which would otherwise be an issue, but biology is odd so who knows.




For one, it makes them much harder to be used as viral vectors.


I think that's the reason why mammals evolved in this way. Red blood cells go everywhere, and I mean everywhere, in your body. Most other cells can't get close enough.




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