The diversity of temporal niches in mammals

Abstract

The division of animals into those that are diurnal (day-active) and those that are nocturnal (night-active) is widely recognized. However, closer examination of the selection of temporal niches by mammalian species reveals the existence of a gradient of diurnality between and within species, wherein “diurnal” and “nocturnal” are merely the opposite ends of a continuum. Evidence against a simple diurnal – nocturnal dichotomy includes the existence of species without any preference for time of day, species with a crepuscular pattern of activity, species containing both diurnal and nocturnal individuals, species containing individuals that spontaneously shift from a nocturnal to a diurnal activity pattern, species showing degrees of diurnality greater or smaller than those of other species, organismal variables exhibiting degrees of diurnality greater or smaller than those of other variables, and species having different temporal patterns under the effects of different environmental variables. Research on the neural processes responsible for temporal niche selection has revealed no fundamental difference between the circadian clocks of diurnal and nocturnal animals, but recent findings suggest that different output pathways from the clock in a given species may operate with different circadian phases, thus providing an explanation for why different body functions in the same individual are subjected to different temporal niche selections.