When the sun goes down, a plethora of creatures come to life. Whether you live in the city or the country, nocturnal wildlife is right outside your door, though many of us fail to notice it. We know very little about nocturnal species, yet their behaviors and adaptations make them some of the most interesting animals on the planet.
Wildlife biologist Sophia Kimmig shines a light on the world of nocturnal creatures in Living Night: On the Secret Wonders of Wildlife After Dark. Today, she answers our burning questions about studying nocturnal creatures and shares a preview of some of the content in the book.
What do you think is the most surprising thing about nocturnal animals, or the nighttime as a habitat?
Sophia Kimmig: Oh, how to decide on one aspect when there are so many interesting things? The night hides all kinds of wonders that many people know very little about or just aren’t aware of. For instance, more animals are active at night than during the day, so humans are actually in the minority. Also, many of the assumptions we make about the night come from our limited perception as creatures of the day. Take color vision, for example. Many people assume that no creature can see colors at night—just because humans can’t. But in fact, it seems that some animals are actually capable of seeing colors even in the dark!
What’s something that you wish everyone knew about nocturnal creatures?
SK: Just how beautiful and diverse life at night really is, how vital it is for the health of our ecosystems—and how important it is that we protect it. Sometimes that starts with something as simple as switching off a light that no one actually needs.
How did your field work influence Living Night?
SK: For my PhD, I radio-collared red foxes in the city of Berlin to study their movement through the urban jungle and the way they use the city as a novel habitat. Foxes are predominately crepuscular and nocturnal creatures, so I spent quite some time outdoors at night. During this time, I realized how strange and unfamiliar the night actually feels and how little I know about its inhabitants. I discovered a whole new world to explore—and I was intrigued.
How can we better protect the darkness so it’s still a viable habitat for future species?
SK: Like all animals, nocturnal species suffer from habitat loss. Yet, they also face another problem, which is artificial light at night—causing light pollution. One has to consider that there might have been nothing as reliable in natural history as the shift between day and night, between light and darkness. Nocturnal creatures rely on natural light sources and darkness for their orientation, their biological rhythms, their daily behavior, and many other aspects of life. So, to protect them, we need to be careful with our use of light and only use it where and when it’s actually necessary.
How did different species evolve to be either diurnal or nocturnal?
SK: When we are out and about during daytime, we see a lot of songbirds but not many mammals, right? What is normal for us today is actually the result of our natural history way back in the past. The early mammals developed at a time when dinosaurs dominated life on earth, especially the diurnal world. In dinosaurs’ shadows, these new furry creatures evolved. Birds, on the other hand, are direct descendants of dinosaurs—and for the most part, they’ve remained loyal to the world of daylight.
What sorts of adaptations are important for a species to be able to survive at night?
SK: Nocturnal species have all kinds of adaptations for a life in the dark. One is something you’ve probably seen before: when a beam of light—like from a flashlight—hits the eyes of certain animals at night, and their eyes seem to glow. That effect is caused by a reflective layer behind the eye that makes the light bounce back, increasing the eye’s light sensitivity. This helps these animals see better in low light. At night, other senses also become more important, like smell and hearing. Owls, for example, need to fly almost silently so they don’t startle their prey. To do that, they have specially adapted feathers.
What is your favorite nocturnal creature?
SK: Oh, you can’t ask a biologist to pick a favorite creature. But there is one animal that I’ve gotten to know while studying nocturnal species that honestly makes me laugh out loud. The pen-tailed treeshrew is a tiny creature that lives in the Malayan rainforest and, on a regular basis, gets wasted by drinking loads of natural palm wine.
