Discovered glow in the dark frog
Scientists first saw the frogs, capable of fluorescence. A unique view is opened in the Amazon basin.
Fluorescence is a property of light under the influence of invisible light waves, often of ultraviolet radiation. This property is found in a large number of fish, sea turtles, and, as it happens, a frog Hypsiboas punctatus. It is a nocturnal amphibian lives in the Amazon basin, reports New Scientist.
Julian Faivovich from Museum of natural science Bernardino Rivadavia in Buenos Aires accidentally made this discovery by studying the pigment of this frog. “During some of the experiments we had to illuminate tissue of the frog UV light. And then we realized that the whole frog is fluorescing,” he says.
A scientist with his colleagues found that a fluorescent substance contained in the lymph glands and skin creatures. This feature increases the brightness of frogs by 19% at night and 30% at dusk. It is also assumed that the frog she sees it glow.
It is unclear why this fluorescence, but it is likely that it may play a role in communication, says David Blackburn of the University of Florida.
Faivovich and Blackburn believe that fluorescence can be much more common than we think.