WASHINGTON: Researchers say they’ve used ultraviolet light to reveal the stunning but previously hidden colored patterns on ancient fossilized seashells.
The shells, between 4.8 and 6.6 million years old, had been bleached to an overall pearly white by sand and sea, making it difficult for scientists to properly differentiate between similar but distinct species.
However, photos of the cone snail shells taken under UV light revealed distinctive patterns of swirls and colors, none of which are exactly the same as seen in cone snails today, the researchers report in the journal PLOS ONE.
The ultraviolet light allowed the minute traces of organic matter still contained within the shells to become visible and reveal their original coloration and patterns.
The researchers say that’s allowed them to make a preliminary identification of 13 new species of the predatory mollusks, something that would have unlikely without the availability of the new technique.
There are currently around 800 known species of cone snails worldwide.
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