> Under ultraviolet light, females and males of all 3 species of Glaucomys fluoresce in varying intensities of pink on both dorsal and ventral surfaces.[4] The fluorescence is hypothesized to help the flying squirrels find each other in low light and mimic the plumage of owls to evade predation.[5]
This hypothesis has been challenged by Toussaint et al. (2022) [6] who instead suggest that the pink luminescence is a byproduct of the body's waste management. Moreover, these authors argue that it is far from evident that UV illuminating sources that occur naturally are sufficient to elicit lum…