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The distinction is not absolute, because crepuscular animals may also be active on a bright moonlit night or on a dull day. Some animals casually described as nocturnal are in fact crepuscular. [2] Special classes of crepuscular behaviour include matutinal, or "matinal", animals active only in the dawn, and vespertine, only in the dusk.
Chronobiology comes from the ancient Greek χρόνος (chrónos, meaning "time"), and biology, which pertains to the study, or science, of life. The related terms chronomics and chronome have been used in some cases to describe either the molecular mechanisms involved in chronobiological phenomena or the more quantitative aspects of ...
The lion is a cathemeral felid. Cathemerality, sometimes called "metaturnality", is an organismal activity pattern of irregular intervals during the day or night in which food is acquired, socializing with other organisms occurs, and any other activities necessary for livelihood are undertaken. [1]
Vespertine behaviour is a special case of crepuscular behaviour; like crepuscular activity, vespertine activity is limited to dusk rather than full darkness. Unlike vespertine activity, crepuscular activity may resume in dim twilight before dawn. A related term is matutinal, referring to activity limited to the dawn twilight.
It may be argued that if the goal is to avoid human activity, or any other diurnal predator's activity, a nocturnal schedule would be safer. However, many of these animals depend on sight, so a matutinal or crepuscular schedule is especially advantageous as it allows animals to both avoid predation, and have sufficient light to mate and forage. [4]
One distinctive adaptation of wombats is their backward pouch. The advantage of a backward-facing pouch is that when digging, the wombat does not gather soil in its pouch over its young. Although mainly crepuscular and nocturnal, wombats may also venture out to feed on cool or overcast days. They are not commonly seen, but leave ample evidence ...
Most are crepuscular or nocturnal, but some species fly during the day. [5] Both males and females are relatively long-lived (10 to 30 days). [5] Prior to flight, most species shiver their flight muscles to warm them up, and, during flight, body temperatures may surpass 40 °C (104 °F). [5]
This glossary of biology terms is a list of definitions of fundamental terms and concepts used in biology, the study of life and of living organisms.It is intended as introductory material for novices; for more specific and technical definitions from sub-disciplines and related fields, see Glossary of cell biology, Glossary of genetics, Glossary of evolutionary biology, Glossary of ecology ...