It seems as if nature always has something in store to surprise and intrigue us. In this case, scientists have discovered that a curious rodent – the springhare – can glow like a neon lamp when placed exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light rays.
The discovery was recently made by scientists observing springhares specimens in captivity and in museums, and they found the biofluorescent properties of springhares to be considerably more vivid and diverse compared to other mammals exhibiting biofluoresence.
In simple terms, biofluoresence is the ability of a living organism to absorb shorter light wavelengths (or blue light wavelengths) and reemit them as longer light wavelengths – in the case of the springhare, pink and orange. Crucially, the trait is different from bioluminescence, which allows living organisms to glow in the dark via chemical reactions occurring in their biological make-up.
IMAGE: Live Science
In the past, biofluorescence was an attribute known to occur mostly in invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and birds, but researchers have recently began to discover the ability in crepuscular or nocturnal mammals such as flying squirrels, opossums, and platypuses.
Springhares – small rodents with powerful hind legs that allow them to jump in similar fashion to kangaroos – fall right into this category, and researchers stumbled across the species’ ability to shift colors while trying to observe biofluorescence in flying squirrels and other flying mammals at the Field Museum in Chicago, U.S.
The lead author behind the study Erik R. Olson explained that they first tried looking for the phenomenon in scaly-tailed squirrels, which did not exhibit the trait, and then moved on to a drawer section containing relatives to the squirrels – the springhares.
"We saw this pinkish-orange biofluorescence in the drawers, and that was an exciting moment," Olson told Live Science. "Seeing something like this, probably for the first time — it really stoked the fires of curiosity."
How does it work?
According to the study, biofluorescence in springhares are produced by organic compounds called porphyrins on their fur, and the pinkish glow exhibited by the springhares likely come from of variants porphyrin callled coproporphyrin and uroporphyrin.
Biofluorescence stemming from the presence of porphyrin has been documented in the past in some marine animals and birds, but as mentioned, the trait has been observed more regularly in some mammals over recent years.
IMAGE: Live Science
Interestingly enough, biofluoresence was observed equally in both male and female springhares, although the glowing patterns were highly irregular from specimen to specimen, with some of them having extremely patchy examples.
As to what purpose such a trait serves, scientists have hypothesized in the past that biofluorescence might be a way for some creatures to camouflage themselves against predators with certain ultraviolet sensitivity levels, as a form of intraspecies communication, or even as a mating mechanism.
“Springhares are predominantly solitary and tend to forage in more open areas with sparse vegetation and, therefore, have greater exposure to predators due to the lack of cover or group vigilance,” the study said. “Thus, we hypothesize that the patchiness of biofluorescence in springhares could function as a camouflage of sorts, but this would depend on the UV sensitivity of their predators.”
IMAGE: Live Science
Currently, the researchers only know so much about the significance of biofluorescent abilities in mammals, but can guess that the feature maybe more widespread among animals active in low-light environments than initially thought.
Eventually. they might also discover a more profound use for such a trait, but if anything, some of us secretly hope that biofluoresence is really just a cool party trick that some animals exhibit for the fun of it. Because why not?
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Cover image sourced from Live Science.
