Pea aphids may have an unprecedented ability to harvest sunlight, and use the energy for metabolic purposes. It would make it the only species of animal known to have photosynthesis-like powers.
It comes down to carotenoids, which are a type of pigment used in animals for crucial functions like vision, bone growth and vitamin production. All known animals obtain these by eating the plants, algae and fungi that naturally synthesis the orangey-red compounds.
By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Olivia Solon
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via Wired.co.uk
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-08/20/pea-aphids
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