![]() The scientists then tested a third specimen at the University of Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska that platypus, a male, had been collected in New South Wales, Australia. Both specimens - one male and one female - displayed the glow, according to the study. The discovery of platypuses' fluorescent glow came from two specimens from Tasmania, Australia, in the collection of The Field Museum in Chicago. ![]() When 19th-century Europeans first saw preserved skins of these strange-looking creatures, many experts thought the animal was a taxidermy hoax, with a duck's beak sewn to a mole's body, according to NHM. These oddball mammals have furry bodies flat and hairless beaver-like tails webbed feet (males also have spurs on their hind legs that are loaded with venom) and broad bills like a duck's. Platypuses are semiaquatic and live in eastern Australia, and they are such a peculiar hodgepodge of body parts that they seem cobbled together from unrelated animals so perhaps fittingly, their scientific name, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, means bird-snouted flat-foot, according to London's Natural History Museum (NHM). "We all agreed that we should explore this idea." "Plus, who doesn’t want to examine a platypus specimen?" he added. This made platypuses promising candidates for finding biofluorescence in monotremes, Olson told Live Science in an email. The researchers knew that platypuses - like flying squirrels - were active at night and during twilight, when an eerie glow would be visible. "We were preparing for our second day at the Field Museum in Chicago to document biofluorescence in New World flying squirrels, and I started wondering how broadly distributed this trait might be within the animal kingdom," said Erik Olson, co-author of the new study and an associate professor of natural resources at Northland College. While testing the flying squirrel museum specimens for signs of biofluorescence, they decided to look at other mammal species in the same collections too, according to a statement. Kohler, then an undergraduate at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, and her colleagues reported their results on Jan. ![]() Box 30028, Lansing, MI 48909 (51).Study co-author Allison Kohler, a doctoral candidate in the Texas A&M University Wildlife and Fisheries Department in College Station, Texas, had previously tested museum specimens of flying squirrels and found that all three North American species - the northern flying squirrel ( Glaucomys sabrinus), the southern flying squirrel ( Glaucomys volans) and the Humboldt’s flying squirrel ( Glaucomys oregonensis) - glowed bright pink in UV light. To comment on the list or request additional copies, or for information on the Endangered Species Program, contact the Endangered Species Coordinator, Wildlife Division, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, P.O. English names in common usage or from published sources have been incorporated, when possible, to facilitate public understanding of and participation in the Endangered Species Program. This list was produced by the Endangered Species Program of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Natural Features Inventory. It is unlawful to kill, take, trap, possess, buy, or sell these species from the wild except as provided in the Order. Some other potentially rare species are listed as Special Concern pending more precise information on their status in the state when such information becomes available, they could be moved to threatened or endangered status or deleted from the list.Īmphibians and reptiles that are listed as special concern (SC) are legally protected under the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director's Order No. Protection of Special Concern species now, before they reach dangerously low population levels, would prevent the need to list them in the future by maintaining adequate numbers of self-sustaining populations within Michigan. Should these species continue to decline, they would be recommended for Threatened or Endangered status. While not afforded legal protection under the Act, many of these species are of concern because of declining or relict populations in the state. ![]() The current list became effective on March 20, 2023, after extensive review by technical advisors to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the citizenry of the state.Īlso included in this list are animal species of Special Concern (SC). This list presents the Endangered (E), Threatened (T), and Probably Extirpated (X) animal species of Michigan, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act of the State of Michigan (Part 365 of PA 451, 1994 Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act). About the Natural Community Classification.
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