Scientists Surprised by Geckos Lighting Up Desert Nights With Neon-Green Sides
MINDY WEISBERGER, LIVE SCIENCE 15 JANUARY 2021 A desert gecko from Namibia has brilliant glow-in-the-dark markings that shine neon green by the light of the moon. The mechanism that produces its glow has never been seen before in land animals with backbones. Web-footed geckos ( Pachydactylus rangei) have translucent skin with large, yellowish markings: stripes on their sides and rings surrounding their eyes. But those markings light up brightly when they absorb the moon's bluer light. Fluorescence — when light is absorbed and then emitted at a longer wavelength — has been found in ...