Posted on 09/29/2021 2:19:27 AM PDT by blueplum
Spending most of its life below ground has allowed the Southeastern pocket gopher to harbor a fascinating secret. Apparently, the rodent native to Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, glows in the dark.
"It's kind of an indescribable blend of purple and blue and pink," J.T. Pynne, the scientist who made the discovery, told WABE....
(Excerpt) Read more at southernliving.com ...
Glowing Gophers
Their glow is called bioluminescence. Pocket gophers, and many other animals, have a chemical in their skin or fur that takes sunlight and turns it into a different kind of light. Opossums and flying squirrels are two other animals that glow, in addition to some birds, salamanders and insects.
Makes them easier to pick up in the cross hairs.
Evolution at it’s best.
How much wood can a Woodchuck chuck if a Woodchuck had Power Tools ?
Lots of denizens of the deep are bioluminescent. Anglerfish as an example.
“Licensed to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. A man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit — ever. They’re like the Viet Cong — Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that’s all she wrote.”
they live underground most of the time
it seems simple that such an ability would offset any weakness in the ability of their eyesight to otherwise see in the dark, they would at least not miss or miss identify each other as the pattern of the glow likely varies from individual to individual
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