Ultraviolet Biofluorescence in Pocket Gophers

Pynne, J.T.; Castleberry, Steven B.; Conner, L. Mike; Piper, Colleen W.; Parsons, Elizabeth I.; Gitzen, Robert A.; Duncan, Sarah I.; Austin, James D.; McCleery, Robert A.

doi:10.1674/0003-0031-186.1.150

Cited by 8 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…This could be the case for green reflectance we observed in our study. Because most reports on UV reflectance address rodents ( 8 – 10 , 12 , 14 , our study), UV can be far more important to the life of rodents, serving functions that are yet to be discovered.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Since the substantial work of Pine et al 7 on mammals that can glow under UV light, reports are still scarce. Despite this scarcity, biofluorescence is present in all three major groups of mammals 7 – 14 . These findings indicate that reflectance occurs throughout the visible spectrum, although more frequent at lower wavelengths (blue and violet).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…had pink UV reflectance, mostly pronounced ventrally, further assessed by Hughes et al 13 . Anecdotal observations of the rodents Melomys, Niviventer, and Rattus showed that some guard hairs reflected bright blue 8 , 9 , 14 . However, biofluorescence is still not well-documented, and we know very little about how common this trait actually is.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reinhold 8 reported that one rodent species ( Rattus rattus ) glowed green when observed with a naked eye, but the camera interpreted it as blue. Another study described gophers reflecting orange-pink and blue 14 . Moreover, Tumlison and Tumlison 15 assessed several rodent species, and although many showed a fainted reflectance, species like Canadian beaver Castor canadensis presented mildly greenish guard hairs; Norway rats Rattus norvegicus showed green fluorescence and so did the thick underfur of muskrat Ondatra zibethicus .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fluorescence and UV–visible reflectance in the fur of several Rodentia genera

Sobral¹,

Souza-Gudinho²

2022

Sci Rep

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Mammals are generally brown in colour, but recent publications are showing that they may not be as uniform as once assumed. Monotremes, marsupials, and a handful of eutherians reflect various colours when lit with UV light, mostly purple. Because of these still scarce records, we aimed to explore UV reflectance among rodent genera, the most diverse mammalian group, and the group of eutherians with the most common records of biofluorescence. Here we report structures like nails and quills reflected green, but for most genera, it was faded. However, Hystrix, Erethizon, and Ctenomys showed intense and contrasting green glow, while Chaetomys presented a vivid orange anogenital. The main available explanation of fluorescence in mammals relies on porphyrin. This explanation applies to the cases like Chaetomys, where specimens showed anogenital orange biofluorescence, but does not apply to the green biofluorescence we observed. In our sample, because the structures that reflected green were all keratinized, we have reasons to believe that biofluorescence results from keratinization and is a structurally-based colouration. However, not all spines/quills equally biofluoresced, so we cannot rule out other explanations. Since Rodentia is the most common mammalian group with reports on biofluorescence, this trait likely serves various functions that match the species diversity of this group.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Fluorescence and UV–visible reflectance in the fur of several Rodentia genera

Sobral¹,

Souza-Gudinho²

2022

Sci Rep

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“…Ultraviolet-induced photoluminescence (UV-PL) has been described in the external organs of plants (Lagorio, Cordon & Iriel 2015), 'invertebrates' (Jeng 2019) and in numerous vertebrates including ' shes', lissamphibians, squamates, birds, and mammals (Prötzel et al 2021). As far as mammals are concerned, only a handful of observations have been reported, notably in the platypus (Anich et al 2021), in marsupials including opossums (Meisner 1983;Pine et al 1985;Tumlison & Tumlison 2021) and bandicoots (Reinhold 2021), in weasels (Latham 1953;Tumlison & Tumlison 2021), in rodents including ying squirrels (Kohler et al 2019), springhares (Olson et al 2021) and pocket gophers (Pynne et al 2021), and in hedgehogs (Hamchand et al 2021;Mclaughlin, Music & Strunk 2021;Derrien & Turchini 1925).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fur glowing under ultraviolet: in situ analysis of porphyrin accumulation in the skin appendages of mammals

et al. 2022

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Examples of photoluminescence (PL) are being reported with increasing frequency in a wide range of organisms from diverse ecosystems. However, the chemical basis of this PL remains poorly de ned, and our understanding of its potential ecological function is still super cial. Amongst mammals, recent analyses have identi ed free-base porphyrins as the compounds responsible for the reddish ultravioletinduced photoluminescence (UV-PL) observed in the pelage of springhares and hedgehogs. However, the localization of the pigments within the hair largely remains to be determined. Here we use photoluminescence multispectral imaging emission and excitation spectroscopy to detect, map and characterize porphyrinic compounds in skin appendages in situ. We also document new cases of mammalian UV-PL caused by free-base porphyrins in distantly related species. Spatial distribution of the UV-PL is strongly suggestive of an endogenous origin of the porphyrinic compounds. We argue that reddish UV-PL is predominantly observed in crepuscular and nocturnal mammals because porphyrins are photodegradable. Consequently, this phenomenon may not have a speci c function in intra-or interspeci c communication but rather represents a byproduct of potentially widespread physiological processes.

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