Labile pigments and fluorescent pelage in didelphid marsupials

Pine, R. H.; Rice, J. E.; Bucher, J. E.; Tank, D. H. Jr; Greenhall, A. M.

Many didelphids show remarkable color changes of the pelage after they are prepared as specimens. These didelphids, along with others, also show fluorescence (often-spectacular) under ultraviolet light. In some opossums at least, the fluorescent materials are apparently inside the hairs rather than merely adhering to them. 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid seems to be in part responsible for this fluorescence, presumably along with other products of tryptophan catabolism.