![]() So, it was intriguing to see that animals that were such distant relatives also had biofluorescent fur. ![]() “It’s thought that monotremes branched off the marsupial-placental lineage more than 150 million years ago. “But we were also interested in seeing how deep in the mammalian tree the trait of biofluorescent fur went. ‘Swimming with their eyes closed, they rely on mechanoreception and electroreception to locate prey underwater.’ The researchers went on to suggest the platypus may have developed the ability to. “It was a mix of serendipity and curiosity that led us to shine a UV light on the platypuses at the Field Museum,” said Anich in a statement. The project’s lead scientist and Associate Professor of Natural Resources at Northland College, Paula Spaeth Anich, described the purpose behind the experiment. Scientists: doubting the platypus since 1770. While the fluorescent glow has also been observed in two other mammals, the “ New World flying squirrels,” and the “marsupial New World opossums,” this recent discovery has opened up new possibilities for evolutionary theories, considering that platypuses are separated from these other mammals by roughly 150 million years of evolution. ![]() Monotreme mammals are the extremely rare family that the platypus belongs to, as well as echidnas and spiny anteaters, which all lay eggs. “Here we document the discovery of fluorescence of the pelage of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)-to our knowledge, the first report of biofluorescence in a monotreme mammal under UV light.”
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