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Crepuscular, a classification of animals that are active primarily during twilight, making them similar to nocturnal animals. Diurnality, plant or animal behavior characterized by activity during the day and sleeping at night. Cathemeral, a classification of organisms with sporadic and random intervals of activity during the day or night.
The dark blue, teal, and gold tapetum lucidum from the eye of a cow Retina of a mongrel dog with strong tapetal reflex. The tapetum lucidum (Latin for 'bright tapestry, coverlet'; / t ə ˈ p iː t əm ˈ l uː s ɪ d əm / tə-PEE-təm LOO-sih-dəm; pl.: tapeta lucida) [1] is a layer of tissue in the eye of many vertebrates and some other animals.
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.
The eyes of some bivalve mollusks, such as the scallop (Pecten) use a concave mirror, the argentea, at the back of the eye, to create an image on the retina. The deep-sea ostracod Gigantocypris has eyes with parabolic reflectors. The compound eyes of long-bodied decapod crustaceans, such as shrimps and lobsters, use mirrors in square boxes [1]
The kiwi is a family of nocturnal birds endemic to New Zealand.. While it is difficult to say which came first, nocturnality or diurnality, a hypothesis in evolutionary biology, the nocturnal bottleneck theory, postulates that in the Mesozoic, many ancestors of modern-day mammals evolved nocturnal characteristics in order to avoid contact with the numerous diurnal predators. [3]
The eyes are large, even larger than those of nightjars. As in many species of nocturnal birds , they reflect the light of flashlights. [ 14 ] Their eyes, which could be conspicuous to potential predators during the day, have unusual slits in the lids , [ 15 ] which allow potoos to sense movement even when their eyes are closed.
Night monkeys have large brown eyes; the size improves their nocturnal vision increasing their ability to be active at night. They are sometimes said to lack a tapetum lucidum, the reflective layer behind the retina possessed by many nocturnal animals. [8] Other sources say they have a tapetum lucidum composed of collagen fibrils. [9]
The eyes are adapted for night vision and the ears swivel. The sugar glider has a squirrel-like body with a long, partially (weakly) [ 22 ] prehensile tail . The length from the nose to the tip of the tail is about 24–30 cm (9–12 in), and males and females weigh 140 and 115 grams (5 and 4 oz) respectively. [ 23 ]