Desert geckos glow neon green in the moonlight, scientists discover
By Mindy Weisberger - Senior Writer a day ago
Shine on, little gecko.
The web-footed gecko (Pachydactylus rangei) from the Namib desert fluoresces neon-green along its flank and around the eye under strong UV light.
(Image: © David Prötzel (ZSM/LMU))
A desert gecko from Namibia has brilliant glow-in-the-dark markings that shine neon green by the light of the moon. The mechanism that produces its glow has never been seen before in land animals with backbones.
Web-footed geckos (Pachydactylus rangei) have translucent skin with large, yellowish markings: stripes on their sides and rings surrounding their eyes. But those markings light up brightly when they absorb the moon's bluer light.
Fluorescence — when light is absorbed and then emitted at a longer wavelength — has been found in other reptiles and amphibians, produced by their bones or by chemical secretions in their skin. However, web-footed geckos generate their light using skin pigment cells that are filled with guanine crystals. These cells, called iridophores, have previously been linked to color display in geckos and lizards, but this is the first evidence that they also enable geckos to glow in the dark.
Web-footed geckos, which live in dry riverbeds and dunes in the Namib desert, measure about 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) in length, according to Animal Diversity Web (ADW), a wildlife database maintained by the University of Michigan's Museum of Zoology. The geckos use their large, webbed feet to burrow through fine sand, and they are mostly active at night, ADW says.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/gecko-fluorescent-green-glow.html
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