[ad_1]
We first found out that the platypus would look great at a rave, now wombats, bilbies and other marsupials can join the black light party – with scientists unexpectedly discovering that they all glow beautifully fluorescent green, blue and pink under the UV light.
In recent years, scientists have found that biofluorescence is more common among mammals than we realized – with flying squirrels glowing pink chewing gum, prompting researchers to see how long ago this trait existed in our mammalian heritage. controlling monotremes like the platypusOrnithorhynchus anatinus) – the oldest surviving mammalian lineage.
Of course, once the platypus glow was revealed, other researchers such as the Mammalogy curator of the Western Australian Museum, Kenny Travouillon and biologist Linette Umbrello, sencrusted that shine UV on several specimens in the collections of the Western Australian Museum.
And so far their findings have been anything but disappointing, with revelations of neon wombats and bright-eared bilbies.
Bright wombats are some of my favorites too! #wombat #uv pic.twitter.com/XdgLqAoorX
– Kenny Travouillon (@TravouillonK) November 5, 2020
“We’ve only tested it on maybe two dozen mammals, so it wasn’t a thorough search.” Travouillon told ScienceAlert. “Probably about a third of them glowed.”
These included platypus (which they double-checked), echidnas, bandicoots and bilbies, possums, and some bats. Australian creatures join a host of other living things that biofluoresce, including insects, frogs, fish and fungi.
Biofluorescence occurs when a living being absorbs high-energy radiation such as ultraviolet and then emits light at a lower frequency. Many proteins have been identified that can do this in skin or other animal tissues, including bones and teeth, Australian Museum forensic scientist Greta Frankham told ScienceAlert.
“There are chemical compounds in many different parts of the animal body that appear to be fluorescent, so it’s not surprising to find that there may be other chemical compounds in other things like fur that fluoresces,” Frankham said.
Scientists isolated some of these molecules and used them for scientific imaging, such as the green fluorescent protein from the jellyfish.
The exact details of how and why biofluorescence occurs in these mammals have yet to be determined. But however it is achieved, it certainly produces some surprisingly bright results under UV light, such as this Bilby’s ears and tail (Macrotis leucura).
After the platypus showed to glow under the UV light, I couldn’t resist trying the bilbies … their ears and tail sparkle bright like a diamond! #bilby #uv pic.twitter.com/wL82RDdFYb
– Kenny Travouillon (@TravouillonK) November 3, 2020
Bilbies are a nocturnal and endangered species living in the desert who like to eat another animal that glows under UV rays: scorpions.
Well this is great. After all that hype about fluorescent platypuses, I checked a couple of dead local beasts with my UV lamp. Oriental barred bandicoots glow pink under UV rays, but sugar gliders don’t. (My crappy phone camera doesn’t do it justice …) pic.twitter.com/49wlwY5DWm
– TMT (@t_mcachan) November 22, 2020
Wombats and the endangered eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunnii) are also nocturnal species. Many of the biofluorescent mammals identified so far are nocturnal or crepuscular (most active at sunrise and sunset), but biofluorescence requires a light source from which the glow can then re-emit and there is less UV light around at night.
“Maybe they are able to see much more than we are able to see,” Travouillon speculated.
“The predators don’t seem to shine. I think this is because if the predators could be seen, they would lose any chance of catching their prey.”
Frankham pointed out, however, that many marsupials are nocturnal, so this may not necessarily be a driving factor in the evolution of this trait.
While there is now a lot of speculation as to why some mammals glow under UV rays, we have only realized how widespread the phenomenon is. So there is a lot to do before an answer can be gathered.
In response to the hype about bright animals on social media, Lund University evolutionary biologist Michael Bok cautioned:
Be careful to apply ecological or visual relevance to this. Many biological materials fluoresce, but the lighting conditions in which it is visible to anything are incredibly unnatural. It is extremely implausible that this is a visual signal. pic.twitter.com/rVeYlVVFqu
– Michael Bok (@mikebok) November 26, 2020
Field studies are needed to examine whether there are also any advantages or disadvantages of this ability within these animals’ natural environment – but given how vulnerable many of these Australian species are, it’s likely worth checking to see if this trait affects or does not affect their ecology.
“At this stage, we are all guessing why this is happening, so further testing will be needed to really understand what is going on,” Travouillon said. He plans to test more mammals with different lights and see if there really is a pattern with nocturnal mammals.
.
[ad_2]
Source link
