Nocturnal animal

Nocturnal Animal

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Nocturnal animal

As an animal behavior, nocturnality describes sleep

Sleep

Sleep is the natural state of bodily rest observed in humans and other animals. It is common to all mammals and birds, and is also seen in many reptiles, amphibians and fish....
ing during the daytime

DAYTIME

The DAYTIME service is an Internet Protocol defined in RFC 867. It is intended for testing and measurement purposes in computer networks.A host may connect to a server that supports the DAYTIME protocol, on either Transmission Control Protocol or User Datagram Protocol port 13....
and being active at night

Night

Night or nighttime is the period of time when the sun is below the horizon. The opposite of night is day . Time of day varies based on factors such as season, latitude, longitude and timezone....
- the opposite of the diurnal

Diurnal animal

Scientific term refered to as an animal behavior, diurnality indicates an animal that is active during the daytime and rests during the night. Animals that are not diurnal might be Nocturnality or crepuscular . Many animal species are diurnal, including many mammals, insects and birds....
human lifestyle, and that of those animals with which we are most familiar. The intermediate crepuscular

Crepuscular

Crepuscular is a term used to describe some animals that are primarily active during twilight, that is at dawn and at dusk. The word is derived from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning "twilight"....
schedule (twilight activity) is also common. Some species are active both during the day and night. Living at night can be seen as a form of niche differentiation

Niche differentiation

The term niche differentiation , as it applies to the field of ecology, refers to the process by which natural selection drives competing species into different patterns of resource use or different niches....
, where a species' niche is partitioned not by resources but by time

Time

Time is a component of the measurement used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects....
itself, i.e.

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As an animal behavior, nocturnality describes sleep

Sleep

DAYTIME

Night

Diurnal animal

Crepuscular

Niche differentiation

Time

Time is a component of the measurement used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects....
itself, i.e. temporal division of the ecological niche

Ecological niche

In ecology, a niche is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in its ecosystem to each other; e.g. a dolphin will be in another ecological niche to one that travels in a different school.....
. It can also be viewed as a form of crypsis

Crypsis

File:Agama aculeata.jpgIn ecology, crypsis is the ability of an organism to avoid observation. A form of antipredator adaptation, methods range from camouflage, nocturnality, wiktionary:subterranean lifestyle, Transparency , or Batesian mimicry....
, in other words an adaptation to avoid or enhance predation

Predation

In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey, the organism that is attacked. Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of the prey....
. There are other reasons for nocturnality as well, such as keeping out of the heat of the day. This is especially true in desert

Désert

?D?sert? is ?milie Simon's debut single, released in October 2002. The song was a huge success both critically and commercially in her homeland....
s, where many animals' nocturnal behavior prevents them from losing precious water during the hot, dry daytime. This is an adaptation

Adaptation

Adaptation is the process, which takes place under natural selection, whereby an organism becomes better suited to its habitat. Also, the term may refer to some characteristic which stands out as being especially significant in the organism's survival....
that enhances osmoregulation

Osmoregulation

Osmoregulation is the active regulation of the osmotic pressure of bodily fluids to maintain the homeostasis of the body's water content; that is it keeps the body's fluids from becoming too dilute or too concentrated....
.

Many species which are otherwise diurnal exhibit some nocturnal behaviour; for example, many seabird

Seabird

Seabirds are birds that have adaptation to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behavior and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding ecological niche have resulted in similar adaptations....
s and sea turtle

Sea turtle

Sea turtles are turtles found in all the world's oceans except the Arctic Ocean. There are seven living species of sea turtles: Flatback Sea Turtle, Green Sea Turtle, Hawksbill turtle, Kemp's Ridley, leatherback sea turtle, Loggerhead Sea Turtle and Olive Ridley Sea Turtle....
s attend breeding sites or colonies nocturnally to reduce the risk of predation (to themselves or their offspring) but are otherwise diurnal. Some animals are not really nocturnal and are instead crepuscular

Crepuscular

Crepuscular is a term used to describe some animals that are primarily active during twilight, that is at dawn and at dusk. The word is derived from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning "twilight"....
, being mostly active in twilight.

Nocturnal animals generally have highly developed senses of hearing

Hearing (sense)

Hearing is one of the traditional five senses. It is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations via an organ such as the ear. The inability to hear is called deafness....
and smell

Olfaction

Olfaction refers to the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, and, by analogy, sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates....
, and specially adapted eyesight. In zoo

Zoo

A Zoology garden, abbreviated to zoo, is an institution in which living animals are exhibited in captivity. In addition to their status as tourist attractions and recreational facilities, modern zoos may engage in captive breeding programs, conservation study, and educational outreach....
s, nocturnal animals are usually kept in special night-illumination enclosures to reverse their normal sleep-wake cycle and to keep them active during the hours when visitors will be attempting to see them.

Some animals, such as cat

Cat

The cat , also known as the Domestication cat or house cat to distinguish it from other Felinae and Felidae, is a small predationy carnivore species of crepuscular mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin, snakes, scorpions, and other unwanted household pests....
s, have eyes that can adapt to both night and day levels of illumination (see metaturnal

Metaturnal

In Ethology, metaturnality describes the behavior of sleeping partly during the daytime and partly during the night. Metaturnal animals include cats, rabbits, and mice....
). Others, e.g. bushbabies and bat

Bat

Bats are mammals in the order Chiroptera. The forelimbs of all bats are developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of sustained flight ....
s, can only function at night.

A person who exhibits nocturnal habits is referred to as a night owl

Night owl (person)

Night owl is a term used to describe a person who tends to stay up until late at night.File:Asio otus uszatka1.JPGThe term is derived from the primarily Nocturnality habits of the owl....
; he or she is of the "eveningness" chronotype

Chronotype

Chronotype is an attribute of human beings reflecting whether they are alert and prefer to be active early or late in the day. The continuum is often referred to as ?morningness/eveningness? or ?larks? and ?owls? where morning people wake up early and are most alert in the first part of the day, and evening people are most alert in the eveni...
.

A person with Nocturnalism suffers a medical condition in which the brain producers of melatonin are only triggered to activate during the day, causing severe insomnia, and extreme drowsiness during the day. Nocturnalism is extremely common in children and young adults aged 13 to 25. This condition has no cure to this date, but usually will reverse itself with age. Common treatments include taking melatonin supplements and/or forcing the sufferer to remain awake for periods of 15 hours or more.

Nocturnal animal

See also