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Palaeontology

Some dinosaurs hunted at night, study claims

By T.K. Randall
April 16, 2011 · Comment icon 7 comments

Image Credit: CC 3.0 Krugerr
Studies comparing the eyes of modern day birds with those of dinosaurs suggest some were nocturnal.
It is thought that small meat-eating dinosaurs would have been most likely to hunt during the night while large plant-eating dinosaurs would have foraged both during the night and during the day. "We measured living lizards and birds to test if you can use these bone parts to distinguish the nocturnals from diurnals," says Dr. Lars Schmitz of the University of California.
Some dinosaurs did their hunting at night, new research suggests. Studies of the eyes of existing birds and reptiles with different daily activity patterns were compared with similar parts in dinosaur fossils.


Source: BBC News | Comments (7)




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Comment icon #1 Posted by aquatus1 14 years ago
Huh. I just kinda took that for granted.
Comment icon #2 Posted by Copasetic 14 years ago
Huh. I just kinda took that for granted. Me too, I think nocturnal activity probably came pretty early on in metazoan history.
Comment icon #3 Posted by puridalan 14 years ago
Okay, so to me common sense would say DUH of course animals hunted at night...if any animal in general is a predator..if times are hard they are going to hunt no matter what dam time of day it is, especially the more coverage they can get the better!! I remember a few years ago learning in psychology/bio class about how certain animals sleep more than others based on security, ie a horse sleeps barely at all believe it or not, while a bat sleeps most of the day/night. So it also depends on how set you are, I think survival or for survivals sake animals that were more forest eaters would have t... [More]
Comment icon #4 Posted by :PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR: 14 years ago
When it comes to things that goes bump in the night, I really wouldn't want to come face to face with carnivorous dinosaur.
Comment icon #5 Posted by ilovejules25 14 years ago
Ok... I just assumed this would be common sense. Why would anyone assume that no dinosaurs were nocturnal? It's like saying "study reveals some dinosaurs may have been multi-colored." I don't need a study to tell me these things. Guess I'm just ranting now, sorry!
Comment icon #6 Posted by danielost 14 years ago
Me too, I think nocturnal activity probably came pretty early on in metazoan history. i would bet that the first land animals were nocturnal. that is if you believe in that kind of thing. think about the longer your in the sun the dryer you will be.
Comment icon #7 Posted by Dakras 14 years ago
There is evidence that dinosaurs were warm blooded animals that didn't need the sun to warm them as they had similar metabolism to mammals ( look at birds their living descendants, they're warm blooded). It makes sense that they would be active during the night too!


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