Nocturnality as a defensive behavior in the rat: An analysis in terms of selective association between light and aversive stimulation.
1995: Evolution of
nocturnality in bats: potential competitors and predators during their early history.
Future experiments will explore other potential mechanisms of control, including molting (Thomas et al., 1999), taking advantage of strong currents to remove loosely attached epibionts (Wolff, 1959), and
nocturnality, which can reduce the growth of algae (Becker and Wahl, 1996).
The findings are the first to provide a large-scale body of evidence for the "nocturnal bottleneck theory," which suggests that mammalian sensory traits have been profoundly influenced by an extended period of adaptation to
nocturnality during the Mesozoic Era.
Mammalian carnivores are difficult to study because of their low densities,
nocturnality, and wariness toward humans, and as such, basic information on their distribution and abundance often is poorly known (Crooks, 2002).
Results showed that although regular daytime activity is represented by the output of a circadian clock,
nocturnality is the result of fine-tuned masking of circadian rhythmicity by environmental light and temperature.
To determine a preference for activity during L (diurnality) or D (
nocturnality), the amount of activity during L and D for each day, for each animal, was summed.