Flying squirrels glow pink thanks to fluorescence • Hacker News Board

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?

Re: Flying squirrels glow pink thanks to fluorescence

#13

Post by Alex3917 » Sun, Nov 08, 2020, 9:15 PM UTC

meekrohprocess wrote: post #12

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 se…

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.

Re: Flying squirrels glow pink thanks to fluorescence

#14

Post by 01100011 » Sun, Nov 08, 2020, 9:49 PM UTC

xwdv wrote: post #5

01100011 wrote: post #2

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 loo…

Not sure where to buy one I don’t see it on Amazon.

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.

Re: Flying squirrels glow pink thanks to fluorescence

#15

Post by markdown » Sun, Nov 08, 2020, 10:44 PM UTC

carapace wrote: post #11

Pink Banana 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=v6... Pink Dolphin (Two kinds, in the Amazon and around Hong Kong) https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Amazon+river+dolphin&t=ffcm&atb=v6... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+Dolphin+hong+kong&t=ffcm&atb=... And, of course, the pink flamingo. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Pink+flam…

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

Re: Flying squirrels glow pink thanks to fluorescence

#16

Post by jdmcnugent » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 2:31 AM UTC

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.

Re: Flying squirrels glow pink thanks to fluorescence

#17

Post by gentleman11 » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 7:43 AM UTC

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

Re: Flying squirrels glow pink thanks to fluorescence

#18

Post by zeristor » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 9:28 AM UTC

jdmcnugent wrote: post #16

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.

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?

Re: Flying squirrels glow pink thanks to fluorescence

#19

Post by zeroimpl » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 1:57 PM UTC

> 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.