From Anna Nowogrodzki at :
The ability to absorb light at short wavelengths and re-emit it at longer wavelengths is called fluorescence, and is rare in terrestrial animals. Until now, it was unheard of in amphibians. Researchers also report that the polka dot tree frog uses fluorescent molecules totally unlike those found in other animals.
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The researchers first thought that they might find red fluorescence in these frogs, because they contain a pigment called biliverdin. Normally, biliverdin turns the amphibian’s tissues and bones green. However, in some insects, says Carlos Taboada, a herpetologist at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, proteins bound to biliverdin emit a faint red fluorescence. But in the polka dot tree frog, biliverdin turned out to be a red herring. More.
Right up there with wheels in nature. Wallace seems to have been right about the plenitude of life.
Is there anything we should not expect to find in nature? Are there parameters we can use?
See also: Mechanical gears seen in nature for the first time.
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