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Remarkable-Storm-738 t1_iuhleec wrote

I swear this creature was invented purely to fuck with us

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mrnoonan81 t1_iuie4go wrote

Next were going to find the first 100,000 prime numbers encoded in it's DNA.

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malevolentslime t1_iuievo5 wrote

Most animals can see in the UV spectrum and most likely have some kind of UV coloration (to signal info to other animals). It was fairly recently discovered so we don't have the info on exactly what all species UV coloration looks like, as there hasn't been enough time to catalogue every species.

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MatiloKarode t1_iuhvnln wrote

Their beaks act as a lens that focuses the blue-green glow into lasers for eliminating enemies visible light for them in the murky waters so they can locate each other.

Maybe? Because why not? Probably not though.

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MarcusForrest t1_iujukgq wrote

Plenty of animals do - multiple reptiles fish, birds, mammals, insects, arachnids, other bugs

 

IMPORTANT DETAIL ABOUT THE ORIGINAL STUDY

The original study claiming platypuses are biofluorescent used dead platypuses (2020) - I couldn't find more recent research with live subjects

 

This can make a difference as various bacteria, fungi and other organisms are biofluorescent under UV, so a corpse could also be covered in those organisms. But again, some other mammals showcase Biofluorescence. Reasons are simply how the higher energy wavelengths of light is absorbed by the fur - it may not have an actual ''reason'' or ''use'' - it is probably just the way it is, but some experts suggest it might've been related to survival with a distant ancestor - it could've made predation from certain predators more difficult, a form of camouflage (but nothing really supports that theory)

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