Overview
- A University of Georgia team tested 60 museum specimens and found consistent green fluorescence under 410 nm ultraviolet light across six species.
- The glow was confined to wings, hind limbs, and the uropatagium with no variation by species, sex, or age.
- Authors interpret the uniform pattern as likely inherited from a common ancestor rather than driven by diet or environmental factors.
- The emission wavelengths fall within bats’ visual range, yet researchers question whether natural night UV is sufficient to activate the glow and note that live bats have not been examined.
- Published July 28 in Ecology & Evolution, the work places bats among other UV‑fluorescent mammals such as flying squirrels and opossums.