Bioluminescence is the trait of some of our planet’s creatures to glow in the dark. We've seen it in places like Puerto Rico’s bioluminescent bay, fireflies, jellyfish, even some mushrooms. But now experts say that more recently they’ve discovered the trait in many frog species as well.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Bioluminescence is the trait of some of our planet's creatures that lets them glow in
00:08the dark.
00:09We've seen it in places like Puerto Rico's Bioluminescent Bay, fireflies, jellyfish,
00:13even some mushrooms.
00:14But now experts say that more recently they've discovered the trait in many frog species
00:19as well.
00:20The find was first made only back in 2017, with researchers finding that the glowing
00:24was happening only at twilight.
00:26Now after years of research, biologists with Florida State University say this is a much
00:30more momentous find than initially thought, as all 151 species from South America that
00:36were studied, including some 528 individual frogs, all emit some level of light.
00:41What's even crazier, the fluorescence emitted by these frogs seems to be completely different
00:45from other bioluminescent creatures.
00:47The frogs all elicit a glow when exposed to wavelengths of light most similar to twilight.
00:52What's more, they gave off light that would be most easily seen by the frog's eyes.
00:55That is to say green, as frogs have more photoreceptors that can pick up that color,
01:00meaning the frogs seem to be communicating with one another in some way, using the light
01:03emitted from their own bodies.