Nocturnal Animals (Greenwood Guides to the Animal World)

243 Pages·2006·8.2 MB·English

by  Clive Roots

NOCTURNAL
ANIMALS
Recent Titlesin
Greenwood Guidesto theAnimal World
Flightless Birds
CliveRoots
Hibernation
CliveRoots
NOCTURNAL
ANIMALS
Clive Roots
Greenwood Guides to the Animal World
GREENWOOD PRESS
Westport, Connecticut (cid:1) London
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Roots,Clive,1935–
Nocturnalanimals / CliveRoots.
p. cm.—(Greenwoodguidestotheanimalworld,ISSN1559–5617)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0–313–33546–X(alk.paper)
1. Nocturnalanimals. I. Title. II. Series.
QL755.5.R662006
591.5018—dc22 2006010622
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright#2006byCliveRoots
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2006010622
ISBN:0–313–33546–X
ISSN:1559–5617
Firstpublishedin2006
GreenwoodPress,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.greenwood.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Jean
For the many years of love, companionship,
and shared concern for animals,
from London Zoo to Vancouver Island

Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xi
1. Darkness and Life 1
2. Life in the Shadows 13
3. The Scent Tasters 35
4. Birds of the Night 61
5. The First Nocturnal Mammals 85
6. The Sound Navigators 109
7. The Insect-Eaters and Their Allies 123
8. Nocturnal Chisellers 139
9. The Night Hunters 153
10. Fair Game 183
11. Primitive Primates 205
viii & CONTENTS
Glossary 215
Bibliography 221
Index 223
Preface
Finding food and mates, establishing and defending a territory, and avoiding
predatorsandinclementweatherarethedailyfunctionsofwildvertebrateanimals.
To behave in the same manner in the dark needed considerable improvement to
their already impressive adaptations for survival, yet this was achieved by almost
half of all living species.
A barn owl can locate a mouse in total darkness solely by the tiny sounds it
makes as itchews grassseeds.The owl’slarge,dished facefunnelsthesesoundsto
thehugeearopeningsbeneathitsfeathers,whichareuneven;thisimprovessound
reception fromboth the verticaland horizontal planes,allowing pinpoint accuracy
even when vision is compromised. On a moonless night in the Mohave Desert a
rattlesnake’s flicking forked tongue picks up scent particles left by a kangaroo rat,
and transfers them to organs in the roof of its mouth, from where a message is
flashed to its brain that directs the snake along the rodent’s trail. The rattlesnake
also has a sixth sense, a heat-sensing system that includes deep facial pits con-
tainingnervesandreceptororgansthatdetectfractionaltemperaturevariationsand
can locate the rodent by its radiant warmth.
The tiny pipistrelle bat, weighing just a fraction of an ounce, is the ultimate
example of natural miniaturization, a product of many years’ refinement of its
senses and adaptations. Flying fast at night over the English countryside, it emits
ultrasonicsoundsthatreboundoffthetreesanditsinsectprey.Itssenseofhearing
is so acute that it can act upon the returning echos in time to avoid obstacles or
scoop up an insect with its wing.
This book is an introduction to these and many other night creatures whose
highly developed senses and unique behavior are unequalled among animals.