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Most animals on earth are bioluminescent, but almost all of them live in the ocean and scientists aren’t sure why.

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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
Bioluminescence: the biochemical emission of light by living organisms such as fireflies and deepsea fishes.
Biofluorescence: The emission of previously absorbed light by fluorescent proteins in a living organism.
Luciferin: an organic substance, present in luminescent organisms such as fireflies, that produces light when oxidized by the action of the enzyme luciferase.

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Cameron Duke | Script Writer, Narrator and Director
Sarah Berman | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation
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REFERENCES
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Belkin, S. Bioluminescence Fundamentals and Applications in Biotechnology Volume 1. Berlin Heidelberg, SpringerVerlag GmbH, 2014.Davis, Matthew P., et al. “Repeated and Widespread Evolution of Bioluminescence in Marine Fishes.” PLOS ONE, vol. 11, no. 6, 8 June 2016, p. e0155154, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone....

Delroisse, Jérôme, et al. “Leaving the Dark Side? Insights into the Evolution of Luciferases.” Frontiers in Marine Science, vol. 8, 30 June 2021, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.67...

Griffiths, Mansel W. “ATP BIOLUMINESCENCE | Application in Hygiene Monitoring.” Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology, 1999, pp. 94–101, https://doi.org/10.1006/rwfm.1999.0085

Haddock, Steven. Senior Scientist, Monterrey Bay Aquarium Personal Communication.

Hellinger, Jens, et al. “The Flashlight Fish Anomalops Katoptron Uses Bioluminescent Light to Detect Prey in the Dark.” PLOS ONE, vol. 12, no. 2, 8 Feb. 2017, p. e0170489, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone....

Marek, Paul, et al. “Bioluminescent Aposematism in Millipedes.” Current Biology, vol. 21, no. 18, Sept. 2011, pp. R680–R681, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2011.08...

Martini, Séverine, et al. “Distribution and Quantification of Bioluminescence as an Ecological Trait in the Deep Sea Benthos.” Scientific Reports, vol. 9, no. 1, 10 Oct. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1038/s4159801950...

Martini, Séverine, and Steven H. D. Haddock. “Quantification of Bioluminescence from the Surface to the Deep Sea Demonstrates Its Predominance as an Ecological Trait.” Scientific Reports, vol. 7, no. 1, 4 Apr. 2017, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep45750

Mofford, David M., et al. “Latent Luciferase Activity in the Fruit Fly Revealed by a Synthetic Luciferin.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 111, no. 12, 10 Mar. 2014, pp. 4443–4448, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1319300111

Yirka, Bob. “Researchers Seek to Explain Why There Are so Few Land Dwelling Bioluminescent Species.” Phys.org, Phys.org, 23 Aug. 2012, https://phys.org/news/201208biolumi...