Green Media E-Newsletter is brought to you by CMS ENVIS Centre on Media & Environment

Tuesday, March 14, 2017
World's first fluorescent frog discovered in South America
Correspondent : IANS
Buenos Aires: The worlds first fluorescent frog has been discovered in the Amazon basin in Argentina, a media report said on Tuesday.

Scientists at the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum in Buenos Aires made the discovery by accident while studying the pigment of polka-dot tree frogs, a species common to the rainforest, the Guardian said in the report.

In normal light the frog appears to have a dull, mottled brown-green skin with red dots, but under UV light it glows a bright fluorescent green.

Fluorescence -- the ability to absorb light at short wavelengths and re-emit it at longer wavelengths -- is uncommon in creatures that live on land.

The translucent frog was found to use a combination of lymph and glandular emissions to fluoresce.

The researchers, who published their discovery on Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the trait enhanced the brightness of the frog by 19-29 per cent depending on the level of ambient light in its surroundings, the daily said.

The compound causing the blue-green glow of the polka-dot tree frog was not previously thought to exist in vertebrates and its discovery has excited researchers.

"This is very different from fluorophores found in other vertebrates, which are usually proteins or polyenic chains," Maria Gabriella Lagoria, a photochemist at the University of Buenos Aires and study co-author, told Chemistry World.

The discovery opens up the possibility that other amphibians may be able to fluoresce, particularly those with translucent skin similar to that of the tree frog.

Speaking to the journal Nature, which first published news of the fluorescent frog, co-author Julian Faivovich expressed his hope that the discovery would inspire interest in the phenomenon, saying he hoped scientists would "start carrying a UV flashlight to the field".

 
SOURCE : http://www.mid-day.com/articles/world-first-fluorescent-frog-discovered-south-america/18073182
Back to pevious page

Advertise with Green Media

Be a part of this successful campaign and advertise your events, seminars, conferences, festivals or services, job requirements etc. "GREEN MEDIA" - unique E-newsletter DAILY reaches to more than 3000 environmentalists, wildlife experts, activists, filmmakers and media professionals. For Advertisement contact: cmsenvis@cmsindia.org

Print Media Trends and Analysis: CoP 11/MoP 6



Assessment of Using Social Media to Raise environmental Awareness

Trends in the coverage of environment by news channels



 



The Hindu | Times of India | The Pioneer | The Statesman | The Tribune | Hindustan Time | Sahara Times | Business Lines | Business Standard |

  Economic Times| Financial Express | The Asian Age | Indian Express | The Telegraph | Deccan Herald | The Assam Tribune | The Sentinel  

 

 

 

 

Supported by: ENVIS Secretariat,Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, GOI.

    

Copyright © 2014 Centre for Media Studies. For Limited Circulation

 

 
Since India has no anti-spamming law, we follow the US directive passed in Bill.1618 Title III by the 105th US Congress, which states that mail cannot be considered spam if it contains contact information, which this mail does. If you want to be removed from the mailing list click on UNSUBSCRIBE