Platypus’ fur glow blue-green under ultraviolet light
Recommended for Secondary Grades
The platypus is one of the most unique and weird creatures in nature. And the platypus’ fur is brown in colour. However, recent studies have discovered something amazing about their fur. Let’s find out.
Duck-billed platypus and echidna are the only two mammals that lay eggs. Other mammals give birth to babies and feed their young ones on milk from their own bodies.
The platypus has a duck-like bill, a beaver-like tail and webbed feet like otters. It also carries venom (poison) on a bone on one of its limbs. It is found in eastern Australia and Tasmania
Recently, the platypus’ fur has been found to even glow under ultraviolet (UV) light! To the naked eye, the platypus’ fur looks brown. So, the green glow under UV light was a huge surprise.
This glow is due to biofluorescence. It is a natural event in which an organism absorbs blue light and emits it as a different colour (usually red, orange or green).
Biofluorescence is widely seen in fish, frogs, birds and reptiles. However, it is very rare in mammals. Before this, biofluorescence was known in only two mammals: flying squirrels and opossums.
The discovery of platypus’ fur fluorescent glow was made from two platypus specimens in the collection of The Field Museum in Chicago.
Here is a video on this very unique creature:
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