Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: CaptMoldman on 16/10/2015 17:56:27

Title: What is the Benefit of Biofluorescence in Animals?
Post by: CaptMoldman on 16/10/2015 17:56:27

I'm speaking strictly of "biofluorescence" here, not bioluminescence.

Title: Re: What is the Benefit of Biofluorescence in Animals?
Post by: chris on 16/10/2015 18:51:33

Quote from: CaptMoldman on 16/10/2015 17:56:27

I'm speaking strictly of "biofluorescence" here, not bioluminescence.

Perhaps you could explain the distinction between these two terms, and to what sorts of animals each applies?

Title: Re: What is the Benefit of Biofluorescence in Animals?
Post by: RD on 17/10/2015 03:47:23

Quote from: CaptMoldman on 16/10/2015 17:56:27

I'm speaking strictly of "biofluorescence" here ...

e.g. fluorescent scorpions ...
 

The luminescence doesn't persist after the UV light is removed , so it's not functioning as a light-source to enable the scorpion to hunt at night.

If it has a benefit, ( it could just be a neutral phenomenon ), I suspect it's a method of re-radiating solar energy, the UV component, to lower the odds of being damaged by the desert sun, cf. sun-screen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UV_and_Vis_Sunscreen.jpg).

Title: Re: What is the Benefit of Biofluorescence in Animals?
Post by: Colin2B on 18/10/2015 00:12:46

The point RD makes is an important one.
We often assume that if an adaption or gene has survived it must have supplied a benefit to the host. But the host might have survived due to other stronger benefits and the particular feature or gene just hitchhiked. Lucky gene.

Title: Re: What is the Benefit of Biofluorescence in Animals?
Post by: CaptMoldman on 19/10/2015 17:11:42

Insightful answers! Thanks so much. It perplexed me how a trait would survive that seemed to be so rarely activated (if at all) but the piggybacking theory makes a lot of sense.