The Tropical Veli rat has what shines with iridescent tones
It is long been stated that only a mammal-the golden mole-has one of what shines like the rainbow. But a new study found that more than a dozen mammals also have the iridescent.
A study this Wednesday in Journal of the Royal Society Interface He revealed that the golden mole is not alone.
There are, after all, more than a dozen mammalian species shine like the rainbow.
That is, your by is iridescentwhich means that its color seems to change depending on the animal’s orientation in relation to the observer.
The effect is similar to the colorful glow of an oil stainor the metallic dazzle of the penalties of a hummingbird; And now it is discovered, it is more common among mammals than the biologists thought.
“They walk there”we don’t know.
As told, Jessica Leigh Dobsonfrom the University of Ghent, Belgium, was studying the color in mammals using specimens of the Central Africa Royal Museum, also in Belgium, when he noticed in a electric blue shine in the hair of a tropical vlei rat (Otomys tropicalis).
“I immediately returned to the office to see if I was documented somewhere, because everything I had read so far told me that iridescence [dos mamíferos] It was only on the golden moles, ”he said.
Dobson researched in the scientific literature and found casual mentions for the brilliant of other species of mammals dating back to the 1890s.
A light microscope was used first to illuminate the hair at different angles. Then the wavelengths and light colors reflected in the hair were analyzed.
The analysis revealed that the golden moles are not exclusively sparkling. 14 more species of mammals have iridescent coat. Six had never been considered potentially iridescent in the scientific literature.
As the New Scientist says, when the investigators found that the hair of these iridescent mammals in a high power microscope, found that they were all unusual smootheach consisting of a series of more compressed sub-parallel layers than the layers inside the typical mammals.
The team theorizes that the brightness is – probably – a byproduct of other adaptations based on. Most of these mammals are species that Digns or swimand smooth hair surfaces can help keep the hair clean in dirty or moist environments.
In addition, it refers to Dobson, it is also possible that the iridescence mechanism has the visual communication functionas happens in many birds.
