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Seeing UV is not relevant here. The beaks _fluorescence_ under UV. They absorb UV and emit visible light. They don't emit UV.
by kyberias 9y ago
Seeing UV is not relevant here. The beaks _fluorescence_ under UV. They absorb UV and emit visible light. They don't emit UV.
- killjoywashere 9y agoDoh, good point. Not quite giving up on the dietary utility though. Fluorescence only needs enough energy to re-emit, and the emission could be activated by other actions. Is it immediate or delayed? The activation of fluorescence by UV may not be the only means of activation. Lingulodinium polyedrum, for example, bioluminesces normally under pressure changes, but also under acidity changes (brilliant but lethal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingulodinium_polyedrum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingulodinium_polyedrum). Turns out puffins eat fish. Is it possible the puffin's beak glows underwater as it swims, attracting fish? Either due to salinity or pressure change? Here's a nice paper on the penetration of UV in saltwater: https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo.1989.34.8.1623 https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.4319/lo....