The researchers think that nocturnal animals may be more likely to glow. Paula Spaeth Anich said: “it was intriguing to see that animals that were such distant relatives also had bio fluorescent fur.”
The platypus, flying squirrels and opossums don’t have much in common other than the fact they are nocturnal which means they sleep in the day and are active during the night. Following the accidental discovery by American scientists that platypuses glow under UV light, Australian scientists tested other mammals and marsupials. Olson et al., 2021/Scientific Reports Springhares are cute as can be, but their fur looks kind of dull under. The authors of the study said: “It was a mix of serendipity and curiosity that led us to shine a UV light on the platypuses at the Field Museum but we were also interested in seeing how deep in the mammalian tree the trait of biofluorescent fur went.” Springhares shown under normal lighting and UV lighting conditions. Scientists have known that various plants, fungi, fruits, flowers, insects, and birds can glow, but animals are a very recent discovery. But under UV light they appeared green or cyan. In natural light their fur appears brown but their fur glows green or blue under UV light! The platypus continues to fascinate today with its charming face. What about under ultraviolet light Inspired by pure curiosity, a group of American scientists have recently discovered that, like a very small handful of other mammals, platypus fur is biofluorescent, meaning it glows hues of electric green and blue when illuminated by a UV light. The female incubates her eggs for 10 to 12 days. It has just been discovered that the odd mammal glows under UV light. Breeding occurs during Spring, with the female laying 1 to 3 tiny eggs. If you didnt think platypuses were weird enough already. The female platypus digs a breeding burrow up to 20 metres long with a nesting chamber lined with soft damp plant material at the end. They used three museum platypus specimens, two male and one female and put them under the light. Platypus prefer to be alone, only coming together to mate. The researchers had found in earlier studies that flying squirrels and opossums glow in ultraviolet light and wanted to see what else did.
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