Fluorescent ornamentation in the Rhinoceros Auklet Cerorhinca monocerata

Abstract

Avian species have developed a range of markers for transmitting information, among them ornamented plumage, behavioural patterns and conspicuous bill structures. Members of the marine subfamily Fraterculinae have some of the most visibly noticeable ornaments among seabirds, and some species have been recently found to possess fluorescent properties in seasonally acquired bill plates. We examined a member of this subfamily, the Rhinoceros Auklet Cerorhinca monocerata, for fluorescence in the upper and lower mandibles as well as the namesake horn grown in preparation for mate selection. Fluorescence was noted primarily in the horn of adults, with greater variation present among individuals than between the sexes.

Biofluorescence in the masked palm civet (Paguma larvata)

“…Biofluorescence has come to general public attention over the last decade with the industrial production of "black lights". While numerous reports on biofluorescence have become available for some groups of species such as invertebrates (Jeng 2019), birds (Wilkinson et al 2019), amphibians (Taboada et al 2017), and reptiles (Prötzel et al 2021), there are fewer reports on fluorescence in mammals (Lagorio et al 2015). So far, ultraviolet fluorescence is known from a few mammal species only, including flying squirrels (Kohler et al 2019), mice (Weagle et al 1988), Chinese pangolins (Jeng 2019), Virginia opossums (Meisner 1983) and other didelphid marsupials (Pine et al 1985), springhares (Olson et al 2021), African pygmy hedgehogs (Wolff et al 2005), European hedgehogs (Hamchand et al 2021) and platypuses (Anich et al 2020, Spaeth, 2020.…”