Fluorescent frogs

via GIPHY

A new article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences presents the discovery of a species of frog with fluorescence. The South American polka dot tree frog, aka Hypsiboas punctatus is already rather cute under normal light. But when exposed to UV light, this frog really shines. It gets its glowing personality from fluorescent molecules, hyloin-L1, L2 and G1, found in the skin, lymph tissues, and secretions from glands. These molecules have not been found in other animals. Researchers are not yet sure why these frogs fluoresce.

Source:

Taboada C, Brunetti AE, Pedron FN, Neto FC, Estrin DA, Bari SE, Chemes LB, Lopes NP, Lagorio MG, Faivovich J. Naturally occurring fluorescence in frog. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Epub ahead of print]