The phenomenon of biofluorescence has already been observed in a wide range of fish, reptiles, amphibians and birds. Among mammals, it has also been observed in some nocturnal and twilight species, including possums and flying squirrels, but this is the first time it has been found in a monotreme mammal, the platypus.
Semi-aquatic, usually twilight at night, uses a number of unique phenotypic traits to evolve in low-light aquatic environments. And a team of American researchers has discovered that the platypus has a fluorescent coating ; that is, a layer with the ability to absorb short wavelengths of light and emit longer wavelengths , hence the corals or jellyfish glow in the darkness of the oceanic abyss . Is it an ancestral trait of mammals?
Camouflage?
“It is a mixture of serendipity and curiosity that led us to shine ultraviolet light on the platypus in the Field Museum. But we were also curious to see how deep in the mammalian phylogenetic tree the biofluorescent skin trait was, “says biologist Paula Spaeth Anich, leader of the study published in the journal Mammalia.
Australia is home to some of the most primitive mammals on the planet. But, until now, little attention has been paid to the biofluorescence of Australian animals. Is this an ancient feature, common to more mammals?
Referencia: Paula Spaeth Anich et al. Biofluorescence in the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). Mammalia, published online October 15, 2020; doi: 10.1515/mammalia-2020-0027
