Bioluminescence is the ability of an organism to generate its own light. Numerous functions have been proposed for the 40 or more independent origins of bioluminescence, for example mate recognition, prey attraction, camouflage, and warning coloration. Millipedes in the genus Motyxia, only known from California, emit a blue-green bioluminescence. These detritivores are defended with cyanide, which they ooze from the sides of their bodies. Motyxia are blind and thereby provide an ideal opportunity to study the ecological role of bioluminescence, because their light is only viewed by other organisms, for example their predators. Here, Paul Marek and coauthors explain their research showing that bioluminescence has a single evolutionary origin in millipedes and that it serves as an aposematic warning signal to deter nocturnal predators.
Check out the paper at [ Ссылка ]00887-6.
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