Some adaptations are super - specific ; they appear once in one coinage and vanish , or they last out there and are slide by on to that species ’ evolutionary offshoot . Others are more widespread , popping up in one chemical group of organisms , and then another , and then another . For lesson : Researchers say bioluminescence , or the ability to glow , has severally arisen no few than 27 times in fish . The team published their findings in the journalPLOS One .
When we take heed the words “ glowing animals , ” firefly naturally add up to mind . But the fire beetle is just one of hundreds of bioluminescent being . We also share our major planet with sparkling squid , luminous mushrooms , radiant bacteria , and a whole caboodle of glowing Pisces . This power to become your own light seed has all kind of uses . Creatures practice it to hunt , draw couple , put across , orhide(and we use their bioluminescence for a variety ofmedical use ) . Scientists have document that , since living get down , bioluminescence has evolved at least 40 different time .
A team of research worker from the American Museum of Natural History ( AMNH ) , St. Cloud State University , and the University of Kansas want to get hold out how many metre the trait has germinate in fish alone . They reviewed genetic datum from more than 1510 species of bioluminescent Pisces the Fishes , looking for the point in each mintage ’ history when the trait first come out . They expected to find it popping up at a few different moments in Pisces the Fishes history .
Instead , their termination evoke that the ability to burn has germinate independently in Pisces no few than 27 time in 14 major fish clades during the past 150 million years . The fact that this amazing ability has bloomed so often in fish history suggests that it must be even more useful than scientists antecedently believed .
“ Our finding completely modify how we look at the development of bioluminescence across all liveliness , ” AMNH ichthyologist and paper co - author John Sparkssaidin a mechanical press statement . “ If we are seeing these kind of numbers in marine fishes alone , bioluminescence has evolved far more than 40 times across the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree of living . This suggests that we need to take a closer look at the evolution and variegation of other lineages with bioluminescent members . ”
