
Puffin beaks glow under UV light - rbanffy
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/puffin-beaks-flouresce-1.4607386
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mysterypie
> _They must be able to see [their beaks glowing under UV light] — that 's the
> only reason it would exist._

I don't understand why he's so certain about this. Does it never happen under
evolution that you get a property that is useless, but is otherwise harmless
so it does not evolve away? In this particular case, could the chemical that
gives the beaks a certain color just happen to be UV fluorescent, yet the
birds can't see it? If we examine millions of features in animals, it seems we
should come across some funny or interesting features that are incidental.

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enticeing
I wonder if they've done any experiments yet as to whether the birds actually
can detect that. It definitely seems possible to do such an experiment.

I do think it's odd that in the article they just say the birds "must" be able
to detect it, without any evidence that they actually can.

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codetrotter
For example you could have three boxes, only one of which has food in it.
Paint that box with UV fluorescent material like that which is on their beaks
and repeatedly show the bird where the food is and let it eat it. Then stop
showing it and let it go to the box on its own. Then start switching around
the location of the boxes and show the bird which box has food in it. Then
keep switching the location of the boxes but don’t show the bird where the
food is. Do this in all of the different lighting conditions that the bird
would typically come across in nature. See if under any of these conditions
the bird can consistently identify which of the boxes has food in it. If it
can and if it’s not due to smell or sound then it has to be because of what it
can see. Ensure that other than the fluorescence there is no other visual
distinction that makes the box identifiable. Do this by making new boxes every
now and then and replacing the old boxes with those.

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codetrotter
In order to eliminate the possibility of sound or smell being a factor we
could make three new boxes, one of which is fluorescent and the other two not
as before but now instead of putting the food in the box we keep it in a
separate bag and we reward the bird for going up to the fluorescent box by
feeding it from our bag.

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moomin
Scientist walks in wearing rave gear: “Hey, puffin’s beaks fluoresce in UV
light”.

Second scientist “Wow, how did you find that out?”

First scientist ”Err... pure chance”

~~~
sp332
Or a quote from The Life Aquatic: "Never mind how I found out. I'm a
scientist."

~~~
SlowBro
When I saw the lead sentence of the article I pictured puffins wearing
sunglasses. "Scientists have even made special sunglasses for puffins..."

SlowBro may be slow, but he's a bro B-)

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kevin_thibedeau
Puffins shed the outer sheath of their beaks after breeding season so I would
bet it's a fitness indicator for mate selection.

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rsynnott
> So one January day, while having a "troubling" time in the lab, he threw off
> the lights and shone a UV light on a puffin carcass.

As you do.

