A luminous property, fluorescence has been described in recent years in Australian marsupials including platypuses, wombats, Tasmanian devils and echidnas.
Fluorescence was most common and most intense among nocturnal species, the researchers found, but it was also present in diurnal animals, which are active during the daytime, including the mountain zebra and the polar bear.
The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, noted that “preservation may play a part in the intensity of the fluorescence observed for some specimens”.
“But we did that for other animals and we actually found the opposite – the brighter ones were actually the frozen ones and preservation actually decreased the intensity of the fluorescence,” Travouillon said, citing the koala, Tasmanian devil and echidna as examples.
Linda Reinhold, a zoologist at James Cook University who was not involved in the research, said “if fluorescence of the fur can be significantly underrepresented in [some] museum specimens … it boggles the mind as to what the phenomenon is like in these species in the wild”.
The exact purpose of fluorescence in mammals is still a mystery, but the study’s authors believe it could be a means to make animals appear brighter and “enhance visual signalling, especially for nocturnal species”.
The original article contains 763 words, the summary contains 205 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A luminous property, fluorescence has been described in recent years in Australian marsupials including platypuses, wombats, Tasmanian devils and echidnas.
Fluorescence was most common and most intense among nocturnal species, the researchers found, but it was also present in diurnal animals, which are active during the daytime, including the mountain zebra and the polar bear.
The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, noted that “preservation may play a part in the intensity of the fluorescence observed for some specimens”.
“But we did that for other animals and we actually found the opposite – the brighter ones were actually the frozen ones and preservation actually decreased the intensity of the fluorescence,” Travouillon said, citing the koala, Tasmanian devil and echidna as examples.
Linda Reinhold, a zoologist at James Cook University who was not involved in the research, said “if fluorescence of the fur can be significantly underrepresented in [some] museum specimens … it boggles the mind as to what the phenomenon is like in these species in the wild”.
The exact purpose of fluorescence in mammals is still a mystery, but the study’s authors believe it could be a means to make animals appear brighter and “enhance visual signalling, especially for nocturnal species”.
The original article contains 763 words, the summary contains 205 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!