Ultraviolet Light Helps Ancient Seashell Colors, Patterns

New findings published in the journal PLOS ONE show us that with the help of ultraviolet (UV) light, scientists could detect color patterns on 30 ancient seashell species.

Unlike some of their modern relatives, to the naked eye, alone, the 4.8-6.6 million-year-old fossil cone shells just appear white and without a pattern when viewed via regular visible light. Yet when they're placed under ultraviolet (UV) light, the organic matter remaining in the shell fluoresces, showing off the original coloration patterns to living animals.

With the help of this technique, researchers viewed and documented the coloration patterns of 28 different cone shell species from the northern Dominican Republic. Thirteen from the sample also appear to be new species.

However, determining the coloration patterns of the ancient shells could be essential in determining how the relationships are connected to the modern species.

Researchers compared preserved patterns to those of modern Caribbean cone snail shells, finding that many of them also showed similar patterns, where some species belonged to lineages that may have been around for millions of years ago in the Caribbean.

What's particularly fascinating about this study is the new species Conus carlottae--a shell that's covered by large polka dots. Among modern cone snail, the polka-dot-pattern is now believed to be extinct.

More information regarding the findings can be found here.