Scientists Discover That Marsupials, Wombats & Platypuses Can Actually Glow In The Dark!

This just goes to show how little we actually know about the wonders of the animal kingdom!

Australia has got to be one of the most gorgeous places on earth and the most unique in terms of flora and fauna. Having animal species native to the continent that can’t be found anywhere else on Earth, makes it a really fascinating place to visit.

Scientists and researchers have long studied the extraordinary nature of these animals native to Australia and recently, they’ve made another extraordinary discovery. Get this, certain species in Australia actually glows in the dark!

Platypus was discovered to glow in the dark back in october.

Back in October, a group of American scientists discovered that the Australian platypus glows in the dark. The discovery was published in the scientific Mammalia journal and literally gave some new light in the characteristics of Australian mammals.

The discovery prompted scientists at the Western Australian Museum to conduct some tests on other Australian mammals and marsupials. As reported by ABC, these scientists found that other species glow in the dark too!

A wombat curated specimen glowing in the dark at the western australian museum.

After reading the published journal, Kenny Travouillon, a curator of Mammalogy at the Western Australian Museum borrowed an ultraviolet light to check on the curated animals collection at the Museum. He commented,

“We borrowed it and turned off the lights in the collection and looked around for what was glowing and not glowing. The first one we checked was the platypus obviously. We shone the light and they were also glowing, it confirmed the research.”

A bilby specimen stored at the western australian museum under uv light.

The team tested on marsupial moles, bilbies and wombats and the experiment showed that all of them glowed in the dark. While the team have no idea why these animals could glow in the dark, they have one theory given that most of the specimens were nocturnal. Travouillon speculates,

“The benefit is probably so they can see their species from a distance and they can approach them because they know that it is safe to go towards that animal,”

The glow in the dark nature or Bioflourescence has long been discovered in some insects and sea creatures such as the jellyfish, but this is the first time that it was known to happen with mammals. Just goes to show how amazing our planet really is!

What do you guys think? Do you reckon any species native to Malaysia is bioflourescence too? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Also read: This Malaysian Shelter Appeals for Public Donations To Support Over 1,400 Animals