5 ms·

Flying squirrels glow pink thanks to fluorescence

42 points by zeristor 6y ago

01100011 6y ago
I don't think flying squirrels are the only fluorescent animal. I recently picked up a 3W, 365nm UV light with a visible light filter. I brought it along on our nightly dog walk to play with it and noticed my Yorkie's hair glowed quite a bit(light yellow IIRC). I highly recommend picking up a real UV light with a visible light filter if all you've ever used are the cheap blacklights that glow purple. You'll never look at your bathroom the same way again.
- zeristor 6y ago
  Indeed, I listened to a recent Science Versus podcast about how the Platypus is fluorescent, prompted by finding that squirrels glow. The 6th November podcast is all about that, they didn’t have HN in mind since I can’t link to a page for the podcast yet: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs/episodes https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs/episodes Transcript is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTFNJ2VoWUAhCgKM4tbgEKBBZavPSwWbI1RyckeReHnnGZQ95pbPH53l31fFMpATv8OMEqvSyt267Ta/pub https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTFNJ2VoWUAhCgKM...
- xwdv 6y ago
  Not sure where to buy one I don’t see it on Amazon.
  - 01100011 6y ago
    Search for 365nm UV flashlight. I got the Alonefire one, which claims to be 10W but is really 3W. That's fine for what I need and it was cheap so I went with it.
- rurp 6y ago
  They aren't mammals but scorpions glow brilliantly under a blacklight.
martinknapic 6y ago
top!
pvaldes 6y ago
For me there is a problem here in the fact that both, platypus and squirrel are museum skins. I'm missing a critical discussion explaining if this fluorescence is natural, (and can be natural perfectly) or due to the the chemical products used to preserve the specimens. Those studies are lacking of a control group
- undersuit 6y ago
  Scroll down past the fold and you see a picture of a live flying squirrel also with fluorescent fur.
- zepearl 6y ago
  > “One evening,” says Anich, “he heard the chirp of a flying squirrel at a bird feeder, pointed the flashlight at it, and was amazed to see pink fluorescence.”
bryanrasmussen 6y ago
Just when you thought the flying squirrel couldn't remind you any more of a platypus https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24966094 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24966094 (Biofluorescence in the Platypus)
carapace 6y ago
Pink Banana https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+banana&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+banana&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar=i... Pink Fairy Armadillo https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=Pink+Fairy+Armadillo&atb=v60-1&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=Pink+Fairy+Armadillo&atb=v6... Pink Dolphin (Two kinds, in the Amazon and around Hong Kong) https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Amazon+river+dolphin&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Amazon+river+dolphin&t=ffcm&atb=v6... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+Dolphin+hong+kong&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images%2Fcdn.images.express.co.uk%2Fimg%2Fdynamic%2F128%2F590x%2FPink-dolphin-822900.jpg https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+Dolphin+hong+kong&t=ffcm&atb=... And, of course, the pink flamingo. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+flamingo&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+flamingo&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar... (O_o) (^_^)
- markdown 6y ago
  Ali G on pink flamingos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JegJVyK9zsM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JegJVyK9zsM
meekrohprocess 6y ago
Makes you wonder how much of life "happens" in the UV and infrared spectrums that we can't see. Does this let squirrels recognize each other in a dark forest without alerting predators? If so, did the predators adapt to that? It doesn't sound too uncommon from the other comments, but how much do the fluorescing wavelengths change? Is this another dimension of camoflauge and/or advertisement that we literally don't see? Or is it just one of those weird things?
- Alex3917 6y ago
  Flying squirrels need to eat truffles as part of their diet, so maybe the truffles make the squirrels glow pink as part of their reproductive strategy. Since truffles live underground, they can’t reproduce unless some animal digs them up and eats them, so it would make sense to try to confer some sort of social status to the animals that are good at finding them.
jdmcnugent 6y ago
Fox squirrel bones also glow under UV, it was the subject of my senior research elective. I remember freezing then crushing up a bunch of squirrel bones, doing some extractions, pumping it through the hplc machine and found it to be from porphyrin accumulation and some error in hemoglobin metabolism. Then I graduated before it was published .... end of story.
- zeristor 6y ago
  Interesting. Isn’t this how evolution works, some metabolic pathway changes, if that change is a benefit in some way, then that gives it an edge. The Science Versus podcast looked at the Platypus, with the hypothesis that this was a deep seated trait from deep history in the origins of mammals. The thing is I’d guess all mammals are more closely related to squirrels than to the platypus. Hence I have thought that mice, cats, cows, etc, etc, etc would glow. The angle in the podcast was that this was for twilight animals. So do bats glow too? Or is it all about echolocation with them?
gentleman11 6y ago
Reminds me of the classic lovecraft story: The Color Out of Space
zeroimpl 6y ago
> Low-light conditions are relatively rich in ultraviolet light, and UV vision is generally thought to be important to nocturnal animals. Clearly there is not enough UV light at night to activate the glow in most cases, as otherwise people would notice. Also since it’s actually glowing pink, not sure what this could have to do with UV vision. I wonder why nighttime would be rich in UV light though. I’d have guessed that IR light would be a better pathway to night vision, since warm bodies generate IR regardless of the time of day.

42 points by zeristor 6y ago

I don't think flying squirrels are the only fluorescent animal. I recently picked up a 3W, 365nm UV light with a visible light filter. I brought it along on our nightly dog walk to play with it and noticed my Yorkie's hair glowed quite a bit(light yellow IIRC). I highly recommend picking up a real UV light with a visible light filter if all you've ever used are the cheap blacklights that glow purple. You'll never look at your bathroom the same way again.

zeristor 6y ago
Indeed, I listened to a recent Science Versus podcast about how the Platypus is fluorescent, prompted by finding that squirrels glow. The 6th November podcast is all about that, they didn’t have HN in mind since I can’t link to a page for the podcast yet: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs/episodes https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs/episodes Transcript is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTFNJ2VoWUAhCgKM4tbgEKBBZavPSwWbI1RyckeReHnnGZQ95pbPH53l31fFMpATv8OMEqvSyt267Ta/pub https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTFNJ2VoWUAhCgKM...
xwdv 6y ago
Not sure where to buy one I don’t see it on Amazon.
- 01100011 6y ago
  Search for 365nm UV flashlight. I got the Alonefire one, which claims to be 10W but is really 3W. That's fine for what I need and it was cheap so I went with it.
rurp 6y ago
They aren't mammals but scorpions glow brilliantly under a blacklight.

martinknapic 6y ago

top!

pvaldes 6y ago

For me there is a problem here in the fact that both, platypus and squirrel are museum skins. I'm missing a critical discussion explaining if this fluorescence is natural, (and can be natural perfectly) or due to the the chemical products used to preserve the specimens. Those studies are lacking of a control group

undersuit 6y ago
Scroll down past the fold and you see a picture of a live flying squirrel also with fluorescent fur.
zepearl 6y ago
> “One evening,” says Anich, “he heard the chirp of a flying squirrel at a bird feeder, pointed the flashlight at it, and was amazed to see pink fluorescence.”

bryanrasmussen 6y ago

Just when you thought the flying squirrel couldn't remind you any more of a platypus https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24966094 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24966094 (Biofluorescence in the Platypus)

carapace 6y ago

Pink Banana https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+banana&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+banana&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar=i... Pink Fairy Armadillo https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=Pink+Fairy+Armadillo&atb=v60-1&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=Pink+Fairy+Armadillo&atb=v6... Pink Dolphin (Two kinds, in the Amazon and around Hong Kong) https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Amazon+river+dolphin&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Amazon+river+dolphin&t=ffcm&atb=v6... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+Dolphin+hong+kong&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images%2Fcdn.images.express.co.uk%2Fimg%2Fdynamic%2F128%2F590x%2FPink-dolphin-822900.jpg https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+Dolphin+hong+kong&t=ffcm&atb=... And, of course, the pink flamingo. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+flamingo&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+flamingo&t=ffcm&atb=v60-1&iar... (O_o) (^_^)

markdown 6y ago
Ali G on pink flamingos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JegJVyK9zsM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JegJVyK9zsM

meekrohprocess 6y ago

Makes you wonder how much of life "happens" in the UV and infrared spectrums that we can't see. Does this let squirrels recognize each other in a dark forest without alerting predators? If so, did the predators adapt to that? It doesn't sound too uncommon from the other comments, but how much do the fluorescing wavelengths change? Is this another dimension of camoflauge and/or advertisement that we literally don't see? Or is it just one of those weird things?

Alex3917 6y ago
Flying squirrels need to eat truffles as part of their diet, so maybe the truffles make the squirrels glow pink as part of their reproductive strategy. Since truffles live underground, they can’t reproduce unless some animal digs them up and eats them, so it would make sense to try to confer some sort of social status to the animals that are good at finding them.

jdmcnugent 6y ago

Fox squirrel bones also glow under UV, it was the subject of my senior research elective. I remember freezing then crushing up a bunch of squirrel bones, doing some extractions, pumping it through the hplc machine and found it to be from porphyrin accumulation and some error in hemoglobin metabolism. Then I graduated before it was published .... end of story.

zeristor 6y ago
Interesting. Isn’t this how evolution works, some metabolic pathway changes, if that change is a benefit in some way, then that gives it an edge. The Science Versus podcast looked at the Platypus, with the hypothesis that this was a deep seated trait from deep history in the origins of mammals. The thing is I’d guess all mammals are more closely related to squirrels than to the platypus. Hence I have thought that mice, cats, cows, etc, etc, etc would glow. The angle in the podcast was that this was for twilight animals. So do bats glow too? Or is it all about echolocation with them?

gentleman11 6y ago

Reminds me of the classic lovecraft story: The Color Out of Space

zeroimpl 6y ago

> Low-light conditions are relatively rich in ultraviolet light, and UV vision is generally thought to be important to nocturnal animals. Clearly there is not enough UV light at night to activate the glow in most cases, as otherwise people would notice. Also since it’s actually glowing pink, not sure what this could have to do with UV vision. I wonder why nighttime would be rich in UV light though. I’d have guessed that IR light would be a better pathway to night vision, since warm bodies generate IR regardless of the time of day.