Discovered - World’s first fluorescent frogs found in Amazon basin (See pic)

Image credits: Julián Faivovich/Carlos Taboada

New Delhi: Scientists have discovered the world’s first fluorescent frogs in the Amazon basin, Argentina - a rare finding of animals that live on land.

The exciting discovery was made by scientists at the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum in Buenos Aires while studying the pigment of polka-dot tree frogs, a species common to the rainforest.

In normal light, the frog appears to sport a muted palette of greens, yellows and reds. However, in UV light, it gives off a blue-green glow, which is linked to a new fluorescent compound not previously known in nature.

Fluorescence is the ability to absorb light at short wavelengths and re-emit it at longer wavelengths and is rare in terrestrial animals.

Carlos Taboada, a herpetologist at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, and his colleagues trained a UVA flashlight (or black light) on polka dot tree frogs collected near Santa Fe, Argentina, were astonished to find the animals gave off an intense greenish-blue glow instead of a faint red, reports the journal Nature, which first published news of the fluorescent frog.

“We couldn’t believe it,” says study co-author Julián Faivovich, a herpetologist who is also at the University of Buenos Aires, was quoted as saying.

According to the scientists, three molecules - hyloin-L1, hyloin-L2 and hyloin-G1 - in the lymph tissue, skin and glandular secretions of the of the polka-dot tree frog (Hypsiboas punctatus) were responsible for the green fluorescence.

The molecules are unique among known fluorescent molecules in animals. The newly described fluorescent molecules emit a surprising amount of light, providing about 18% as much visible light as a full Moon - enough for a related species of frog to see by.

The researchers published their discovery in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.