Comparative fatty acids of the dolphin and the herring.

AND SUMMARY The tissue samples from two bottlenosed dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) became available, and it was decided to examine the fatty acid compositions of the phospholipid fractions. The food chain of the dolphin provides a vast preponderance of 603 series fatty acids compared to co6, while the land food chain provides a more even balance between the two series. The ancestors of the dolphin had evolved on the land with the terrestrial 603:606 balance, but the dolphin now lives in an co3-rich environment. The investigations were carried out to discover whether the dolphin reflected its marine environment or alternatively its evolutionary history. The results showed that the fatty acids of the dolphin bear a much closer resemblance to those of land mammals than to those of other marine vertebrates.