The Bizarre Beast with Glowing Bones
Вставка
- Опубліковано 2 лип 2020
- Chameleons are fancy lizards. They can move and focus each eye independently, they catch food with super long tongues, and they change colors! And if all that wasn't enough, new research has added something bizarre to their already impressive arsenal of color-changing abilities.
Subscribe to the pin club here: store.dftba.com/collections/b...
This month's pin is designed by Lukas Phelan. You can find out more about him and his work here: lukasphelan.com/
You can cancel any time by emailing hello@dftba.com
Host: Hank Green (he/him)
Follow us on socials:
Twitter: / bizarrebeasts
Instagram: / bizarrebeastsshow
Facebook: / bizarrebeastsshow
#Chameleon #Lizards #BizarreBeasts #color
-----
Sources:
caltechletters.org/science/co...
www.nature.com/articles/ncomm...
www.nature.com/articles/s4159...
animaldiversity.org/accounts/...
academic.oup.com/cz/article/6...
www.nature.com/articles/s4159...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/a...
------
Images:
www.videoblocks.com/
www.istockphoto.com/
www.flickr.com/photos/aries_t...
www.flickr.com/photos/qmnonic...
www.nature.com/articles/ncomm...
• Fluorescence in chamel...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
www.nature.com/articles/s4159...
www.nature.com/articles/s4159...
------
Music:
Theme by Josef "Tuna" Metesh
www.epidemicsound.com/
Fluorescence and the emission of light are tricky topics! Mark D. Scherz, one of the researchers from the chameleon bone-based fluorescence paper, did a great job clearly explaining the phenomenon:
“It's really important (@3:04) that being able to see UV has nothing to do with fluorescence, because the fluorescence is produced by UV light being absorbed*, and blue light being *emitted by the bones. We think that the chameleons can see this blue better than us, because their eyes are very sensitive at these wavelengths.”
You can learn more about this fascinating research here: www.markscherz.com/archives/3529
Yeah, I was going to say... the fluorescence would mean the UV being converted to human-visible wavelengths, whereas chameleons being able to just see some range of UV light would mean seeing it when *reflected* (or emitted).
!:-)💜
!:-)💜
Ahhhhh thanks, I was so confused XD
Hank: Has a book coming out in a matter of days.
Also Hank: Let me start a 56th UA-cam channel.
A 56th!?
@@simrethdhingra4409 Wikipedia quotes him as saying that the number is "about 15."
Hullo! I am one of the scientists who described the phenomenon of chameleons' bone-based fluorescence! To answer the 'how did we find out?' question, we came across a picture by the extremely talented Paul Bertner, who often takes pictures of arthropods under UV light to photograph their fluorescence, but happened to shine one of these torches on a chameleon in Madagascar and post it on Flickr. We ran off to the collections in our museum in Munich, Germany, with a UV light, and found out that these patterns were present in practically all chameleons!
It's really important (@3:04) that being able to see UV has nothing to do with fluorescence, because the fluorescence is produced by UV light being *absorbed*, and blue light being *emitted* by the bones. We think that the chameleons can see this blue better than us, because their eyes are very sensitive at these wavelengths.
Thanks Hank for featuring our work, and celebrating these wonderfully fancy lizards!
I can only imagine the excitement, thanks for checking (and this comment)! Happy scienceing further!
That is a fantastic story! We were wondering how this happened!
Thank you for explaining the fluorescence/UV/blue light emission. This got a little confusing and your wording very clear! Do you mind if I quote you in a pinned comment?
This is the coolest thing!
@@BizarreBeasts not at all, be my guest! You'll find more about the discovery here: www.markscherz.com/archives/3529
@@MarkScherz !:-)💜
as a zoology major this gives me life omfg
As an astronomy major, I want to study zoology as well lmao
As a highschool student, I am going to study zoology as well
As a major pain in my parents butt I also want to study zoology. But at my parents expense
Chameleons also have ribs about as thick as a piece of string, that is why if you own one you NEVER pick them up, you have to let them walk on to you or else you will break its ribs. They also need both really good ventilation and high humidity, which is fairly hard to do. top that off with an animal that stresses incredibly easily, and you get a really cool animal that does not make a good beginner lizard. If you want a cool lizard for a pet you should look at blue tongue skinks, pink tongue skinks, African fat tailed geckos, crested geckos, or leopard geckos. (bearded dragons have some pretty complex dietary needs, and need really large enclosures too, so they aren't great for new keepers.)
Leopardgeckos ftw
When I was around...9 or 10?? We took care of our neighbor's 2 chameleons while they were away for a week and it was a lot of work but also SO COOL when they crawl up on you!?
It's such a weird sensation and I know myself well enough that I'll probably never have my own (the highest maintenance pet I can handle is a cat) I'd love to watch over some again one day. I remember being so delighted by feeling their rough tiny "hands" gripping my skin and watching them feed was really neat. But yeah definitely NOT a starter reptile!
Our neighbors had a large black mesh/wire cage full of green leafy plants and various branches and kept it out in their lanai. This was also in Hawai'i so they were able to keep the chameleons out there year-round.
Biiiiig yes! It’s amazing how easily you can end up with an animal you are barely keeping correctly. Like birds. In my experience, owning a bird is like owning a toddler who’s made of glass whilst also on amphetamines at a disney park ō_ō... Oh, and they can fly.
Beardies aren't that bad, you just need to make sure they eat their vegetables (getting them to eat bugs is rarely an issue) and that their tank's big enough and they have a good UV light and the right temperature. Other than that they're super easy! They're pretty sturdy, don't stress out easily, and are super friendly, all around they're pretty chill little dudes.
Major dad pun energy when he said “become it’s own...beast”
"A skindow" I died 😂😂
So do all bones fluoresce under blacklight? Like if i got a gnarly injury at a blacklight roller rink and my bone was poking through my skin... would it glow?
Hi! This is Sarah (the producer/co-host)! I didn't know this until recently, but the answer seems to be, "Yes." Black lights are even used in forensics to find fresh bone (the older it is, the less it glows). onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1556-4029.12978
They real question is why do bones glow under blacklight?
I was also wondering this during the video! Thanks for the quick answer, Sarah. I hope we get to see a Sci-Show episode about how/why bones glow soon. :D
@@BizarreBeasts I appreciate the citation!
@@laurakemp5979 I think it's the phosphorus they contain.
Nobody:
No one:
Not a single soul:
Hank: sKiNdOw!
anyone else thinking it and thought the mind thoughts were doing an out-loud? xD
This channel is gonna be my jam, I can feel it!
It is so wonderful to see how many more ways there are to view color. What else are we mere humans missing!?
Soo much...
After watching this, chameleons are my new favourite animal
4:05 The UV light is able to get to the bones, which fluoresce under UV light- meaning that the UV light is ABSORBED, and in this case is emitted as light in the VISIBLE spectrum. To a Chamaleon, the tubercles would look ever so slightly darker/duller under normal light. Again, the UV light is being absorbed. The fact that chameleons can see into the UV does NOT mean that they are able to see fluorescence any better than we can- the fluorescence is in the visible spectrum (which we can also see!), NOT the UV spectrum.
The thing is, moonlight has nearly no UV light, so at night the tubercles would look to them just like they do to us. During the day there would also be almost no difference too, since the fluorescing effect is massively washed out by all the other light. That's why we have to put them in a room only illuminated by a UV light in order to see it.
As I already mentioned, the only difference between a human and a chameleon looking at the tubercles during daylight would be that to a chameleon, the tubercles would look slightly darker/duller in the UV spectrum, as the UV is being absorbed by the bones.
Thank you for the note! According to the research we referenced, "The fluorescence emits with a maximum at around 430 nm in blue color which contrasts well to the green and brown background reflectance of forest habitats." This is, in part, "due to the higher relative ambient UV light in forested, humid habitats." www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-19070-7
@@BizarreBeasts Yes, but the wavelength is completely irrelevant if the intensity is too low. While chameleons' visual range IS shifted a bit towards the blue spectrum, the authors say that only "0.29% of absorbed photons [were] emitted as fluorescence." In other words, the light coming from the tubercles has an intensity that is .0029 of the ambient light..... and only if you are AT the very surface of the tubercles. Once you start moving away from them, that light becomes even dimmer (by the inverse square law, augmented by the absorption of the atmosphere, but that would be fairly low so we can ignore it).
That is why it is impossible for anything (human or chameleon) to see any fluorescence unless you blast the chameleons with a UV light from a very close distance, and only if you put them in a dark room first.
It is worth noting that the authors themselves also rule out the idea that the tubercles are involved in direct UV signaling: "A function of [the tubercles] as UV reflectors could therefore be hypothesised. This can be ruled out however, as these structures do not reflect UV light at 365 or 390 nm (Fig. 1B, Supplementary Fig. S6A) ". I actually think direct UV signaling is far more plausible than fluorescence signaling, since dark/dull spots could actually be perceivable in theory.
@@davidonfim2381 Yes! The intensity does matter. The authors say, "On the other hand, the emission spectrum of FTs (fluorescent tubercles) with a maximum at 433 nm is deep blue, a color that is reasonably rare in a tropical forest and appears to be a conspicuous signal against the background reflectance of grey brown leaf litter or green vegetation as shown in Fig. 1 of Andersson et al.32. The glowing blue of the FTs is near to the maximum absorption of the pigments of the SWS (short-wave-sensitive) cones with 440-450 nm of the examined chameleons31. Additionally, wavelengths of around 433 nm might appear brighter to chameleons as their visual spectrum is shifted towards shorter wavelengths (from about 350 nm to 650 nm) compared to the human visual perception. Assuming that in the shade of a closed forest canopy the relative intensity of the diffuse UV-light is even higher the fluorescent part of the total reflectance might increase considerably."
They also suggest that the chameleons might see the fluorescence under those ecological conditions, "Constant fluorescent patterns potentially give chameleons a secondary, stable signaling system that is not influenced by their well-known communication by color change, and does not compromise their camouflage."
Thanks for thinking about this with us!
If we can recommend animals ... any sort of slug. There are the giant black california sea hares, brown sea hares, land slugs like the bright pink one from Australia, nudibranches, or even just leopard slugs are weird!
Is there a way to recommend animals?
Been part of the pin club since last year, going to have an enamel pin zoo soon!
Oh yes, please recommend!!
For a recomendation i suggest The Mantas Shrimp because of its colors, its eyes and its speed.
vlogbrothers I think kiwi birds are pretty weird/cute. Or the dodo if extinct species are included. I’m partial to flightless birds.
Those tiny Florida lizards, banana slugs, blue-footed booby birds, nicobar pigeons, shoebill...this makes me sound bird obsessed and I’ll accept that.
ua-cam.com/video/-7bAlO-DZlg/v-deo.html
Angler fish
In fairness to the scientists who discovered this, you can't properly attempt to create psychedelic patterns on a chameleon without playing a bit of Pink Floyd, a setting up a blacklight poster behind it.
Hank: "Color is a double edged sword. If you're using it to stand out, you can not also use it for camouflage."
Octopi and Cuttlefish: "What, are we just mere clams to you?!"
Not only can cephalopods change their colors in a mere blink of an eye to stand out or blend in, they can also change the texture of their skin to blend into their environment. So, they're even better than the chameleon in that regard. Can they glow in a UV light? I dunno, I haven't heard of any one trying that, but it wouldn't surprise me if they can.
Came here to say this but you did it a lot better!
@@RICDirector LOL Thanks 🙂
"i like to look at chameleons, look at them with me :D" is probably my favorite line in this video
I very much hope your next project is some sort of "how to scicom" channel. You've done it so well and brought so many talented scientists to the public eye!
I LOVE THIS NEW CHANNEL
As a paper artist I really appreciate your paper theater background.
Also very small guitars ❤️
I'm so pumped this is a dedicated channel now!
Every time I hear someone say "a leopard can't change it's spots" it reminds me of a saying Terry Pratchett wrote in his discworld book series. It was " a leopard can't change it's shorts". It always amuses me.
There are chameleons all over Miami Florida!! In fact, iguanas and boas, too. The last time I was there, I noticed several types of lizard I didn’t recognize from the 80s or 90’s. Apparently, (sucky) people release a “troublesome pet” and because of the tropical climate, the little beasties thrive. Problem is not what I saw, but what I didn’t. The little lizards, common from my youth, were few and far between. All in less than 20 years. Scary.
Love the new channel! Getting into this Pin thing.
Hank ,whatever you do it's amazing. You are a freaking genius.
The very first shot of the video is a rainbow lorikeet, which was a lovely surprise since I have one as a pet, her name is Zazu and I love her so much 😄
i made a comment when i started watching this channel 11 months ago that its a universal experience to watch a science related video and find hank green narrating it, and i just now stumble onto the first ever video and find out you created this whole project?? how do you do so much stuff??
Yeah, great I'm a year one subscriber and was confused about the billing and shipping but now I get it. Thanks! Also chameleon pin!
It's like this channel was made for my zoology loving brain. Subscribed!
Aaaah i cant wait for my two new pins 😁😁😁😁😁 and also your book Hank!
Very stoked about this!
Calumma, lumma, lumma, lumma, lumma, chameleons
They come and go
They come and go-o-o-o-o
I genuinely scrolled through the comments just to see if anyone had made this joke. Now I don't have to. 😆
I'm really excited about this channel and want to watch all the beast videos, but I do have to say that part of the magic of the series on vlogbrothers was its Hank-iness and lack of professionalism. I know y'all are fantastic at science communication, but, just in my opinion, not every video needs to be produced super well and have you in a suit jacket standing up. It's too formal and honestly, just for me personally, took away a lot of the fun of these videos. I don't always want to feel like I'm being "taught" on youtube, sometimes I just want to have fun
It's possible no one agrees with me, and I'm not trying to be overly critical! I'm excited to learn about more weird animals
I've known this for a while...ever since I found out as a kid that scorpion exoskeletons did this I wondered about it....only recently I bought a uv flash light for resin..but of course shined it everywhere for fun. Showed some people the animals that reacted with uv light at a reptarium...they flipped out. Its so cool.
Shows many hidden patterns on some animals...some snakes..frogs..roaches..chameleons..a persons tattoo had a secret smilly face they didn't know was there..their tattoo artist must of done that as cool surprise.
oh i am SO HYPE for more bizarre beasts!!!
Yes!! BB getting it’s own channel means more than 4 minutes of beast explaining content
How did I not know this channel existed until now?! I love this!
Suggestions:
- The Potoo bird: A seriously bizarre looking bird that camouflages as a Twig.
-̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶T̶a̶w̶n̶y̶ ̶F̶r̶o̶g̶m̶o̶u̶t̶h̶:̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶H̶o̶w̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶i̶r̶d̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶e̶a̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶.̶ Done on vlogBrothers 11 Oct 2019.
- A Noibat: Maybe a Pokemon trainer can come on and describe it?
i am obsessed with chemeleons and have the name calum so i don’t know if anyone can understand how excited i was when i saw this thumbnail
I wish I was better at UA-cam because I've been hooked on PBS Eons for months and never thought to search for sister channels. Until now! So much content!!!
I have been waiting for this all day!
Just when I was thinking the internet was saturated with old animal content,
I LEARN ABOUT FLUORESCENT REPTILES!!! HOW COOL!!! I LOVE YOUR CONTENT!!!
All chameleons are Stan Pines
2:53
5:05
5:18
3:31 "Yeah I got some of those"
This series on vlogbrothers and now fully realized Hank Green UA-cam Channel™️ has reinvigorated the excitement over animals I had as a kid. Thank you for that.
Looking forward to my new pins this month :) 👍
Don't do it. Don't do it. "It's gonna become it's own beast." He did it!
Whats your tiktok? 😅
@@galli0 Ha, not happening any time soon 😅
I do have a UA-cam channel by the name of No Market Media though 😉
"Tubercle" isn't specific to chameleon skull bumps. This is the same word used to describe the rounded ends and protrusions of any bones. (Thus, your claim that these skull bumps "have their own name" isn't fully correct)
Does this mean that if I smile at a chameleon, it will see my teeth glowing?
So beyond stoked for this series :'3
Chameleons are so cool! Great video :D can't wait to see more!
Straight away subscribed your channel
Thanks Hank! I'm excited to get the pin.
Might be a bit late for you (Hank) to see but here are some animals I think would be cool to feature on here:
- Arctic wooly bear moth :-- can take 7 years for caterpillar to become a moth, think it's the longest cycle
- Wood frogs :-- pretty impressive adaptations to deal with cold winters
- Saharan silver ants :-- impressive adaptations to deal with hot weather
- Crocodiles :-- despite being thick and scaly the skin on their jaws is 10x more sensitive than our fingers, they can eat anthrax infected animals and be fine, their circulatory system is pretty awesome
- Yeti crabs, Scaly foot snails or just the whole hydrothermal vent ecosystem
Can't wait to get the new pin, does anyone know when it generally arrives if you live in the uk?
skindo... lol killed me
Who doesn't want a new channel filling up their UA-cam subscription list every 5-6 months? - Hank
this is wonderful; I had no idea chameleons could even see UV light!
I love chamaeleons even more now ! thanks for the awesome video !
This was great, chameleons are amazing hahah
Can't wait for next month's video :)
This lighted up my day, nature indeed is so wonderful, with beauty a mere human can't comprehend.
WHAT YOU HAVE A PIN CLUB
Heck yes! It opens up again when the next episode comes out May 7, 2021!
@@BizarreBeasts wonderful! Next dream: stickers (?)
My pet veiled chameleon is one of the most colorful and smartest pets I've ever owned. He's my best reptilian friend.
This is insane. Fantastic! 🤩
This brings me so much joy
here from EONS , hapy to find this channel
I love this channel so much and also HANK YOU HAVE SO MANY JOBS WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING????
There was no “don’t try this at home” thingy at the beginning. So as a person with a chameleon (veiled) and a black light (homemade resin 3D printer curing station). I will update to see if he actually glows.
Edit 3 days later: yes. My chameleon somewhat fluoresces around his eyes under black light. It’s honestly epic.
i love this series! might i suggest the sea squirt as a possible candidate for next months video?
All that glitters is gold, only chameleons and pumpkin toadlets break the mold
I’m going to need to see an episode on the thresher shark. I just discovered it was a thing and I am in awe.
This video was great, partially because I love chameleons deeply but also because it was the exact amount of time I needed to dye my hair 👍
I can annoy my friends with wacky animal facts so much more efficiently now!
I'm going to die mad that I JUST found this channel.
This is Excellent.
I think all scientists just need to keep a black light on their key chains at all times, just so they can shine at literally anything. Because the fact we are still discovering stuff that reflects ultraviolet light, means we haven’t been shining it on enough stuff
3k likes 0 dislikes, I know I'm jinxing it but I love this community so much. Thanks for the entertaining yet informative video!
Imagine a life as these chameleons.... they must think the preys are so stupid that they cannot see the obvious UV glowing bits on that twigs over there while some of their preys might not be able to see, lol.
3:22 nah, that chameleon looks more like a bass player
Just when you thought chameleons couldn't get any cooler...
such a youtube goat how do u just make so many great yt channels
This video has and deserves 0 dislikes
Fancy new set I like it!
"I really just fancy lizards."
Aah, I see you're a man of culture as well
3:57 Him: "...in those spots their skin stretches super thin. Like a skin window ..."
Me: Please don't say it. Don't say it. DON'T SAY IT!
Him: "... a skindow"
Me: *sigh*
That lizard was dropping hot lava out his neck
Still on the search for this pin!
Indeed, some of their systems of color are so complex it is impossible to specify how that could develop by 'adaptation’. Random mutations would have to be that driving factor but only being designed (ya, by a designer). Evolution doesn't figure anything out, design engineers do.
One of my professors in university wrote one of the cited papers n chameleon colors :D He was a good prof!
Once again mother nature proving her superiority as an artist and engineer...
0:50 Actually, 'purple' is dichromatic (made from a mixture of red and blue light), you mean 'violet' which is a monochromatic frequency. Thanks for the great show
Ladybug 🐞: Nice ride
Snail 🐌: Meh
Pre-script, can anyone let me know if there are any spider clips in this video? I'm paused a minute in and afraid to press play.
Hank, super excited about this channel! I have a request. I am terrified of spiders, even images of them, so I was wondering if it would be possible to put in the descriptions of these videos if there are any clips of animals associated with common phobias? Spiders and snakes, maybe? I know this is kind of something just for me, but I'm 1 minute into watching this video and wincing every time the video changes from one animal to another, fearing that there's going to be a clip of a spider. I'd love to watch these videos, but, inevitably, they always put me on high alert and I often have to 'watch them' with my screen down just in case. And I'd love to be able to actually watch them. So please consider this. :)
I promise this episode is spider and snake free!
@@BizarreBeasts Amazing! Many thanks!!
Hank is the best host of anything science
A skin-window...
A "skindow!"
Obviously
that is so amazing
So if many birds, amphibians, and reptiles have U.V. markings it’s not stretch to theorize that many dinosaurs had the same sort of capabilities. Imagine a triceratops or one of those horned theropods having fluorescent horns.
August 14th 2020 - After watching Hank on VB today, came here. This video has 17334 views, 2.4K Likes and 0 DISLIKES
Just found this channel, disappointed didn’t find this earlier.... -.
holy schlit, Hank Greene is following me everywhere
Wait, do chameleon bones fluoresce under blacklight, or ALL bones?
Camalamalamaluma Chameleon.... She comes and goes.