The term "night owl" refers to someone who keeps late hours, but it holds true for the owl as well. Owls, like bats, cats and even catfish, display more activity during the night than the day.
How much do you know about the creatures of the night? Put on your night-vision goggles and take a look.
Nocturnal Creatures Quiz
Which part of the eye is larger in cats than in humans?
Pupil
Iris
Retina
Cone
Cats' large pupils allow more light to enter their eyes, helping felines to see more clearly in the dark than we can.
Both bats and cetaceans use echolocation, or the use of echoes to determine position and range of objects (usually prey). What animals belong to the order Cetacea?
Lobsters
Whales
Scorpions
Tarantulas
Whales, along with porpoises and dolphins, are classified as cetaceans. They rely on echolocation to find prey in darkness, easily discerning between animate and inanimate objects.
True or false: Bats are blind.
True
False
Bats have poor eyesight, but they're not blind. In fact, their sight helps them navigate long distances where echolocation would be of little to no help.
When it comes to this sense, raccoons rule:
Sight
Hearing
Touch
Smell
The raccoon has the most developed sense of touch of any known animal. Its cerebral cortex is adapted to read and translate touch impulses, and its paws are covered with specialized hairs that make them extremely touch-sensitive.
Both possums and opossums are nocturnal creatures. What's one of the main differences between the two?
One lives in trees, and one does not.
One lives in the Eastern Hemisphere and the other in the Western Hemisphere.
One lays eggs and one carries its young in a sac.
None of the above.
Among other differences, possums live in the Eastern Hemisphere, and opossums live in the Western Hemisphere. Both are marsupials.
Which lizard has the best nighttime vision?
Iguana
Komodo dragon
Chameleon
Gecko
The gecko has the best nighttime vision among lizards. Its specially shaped cones also allow it to distinguish colors in little to no light.
The tarsier has the largest eyes relative to its body size of any animal. In fact, this small primate's eyes are so large they cannot move within their sockets. How does the tarsier compensate for this?
It can swivel its neck 180 degrees in either direction.
It blinks its eyes more quickly than any other animal.
It uses its specialized ears for peripheral vision.
All of the above.
The tarsier can't move its eyes, but it can turn its neck an astounding 180 degrees in either direction. The carnivore also can locate prey in complete darkness.
True or false: The pit viper uses its senses of smell and sight to locate prey at night.
True
False
The pit viper uses its sense of sight, along with a unique heat-seeking sense to locate prey. The heat-sensing organs are located with the nostrils but aren't responsible for smell.
True or false: Crickets chirp at night by rubbing their legs together.
True
False
Crickets chirp by rubbing their wings together, not their legs. Only male crickets chirp, and they have different songs depending on whether they want to woo a female or defend their territory from another male.
Why do an owl's eyes make the bird an ideal nocturnal hunter?
They're large.
Big corneas let in lots of light.
They have many light-sensitive rods.
All of the above
All of the above traits, along with others, allow owls to be such effective nighttime predators. Some species can locate a mouse over a distance longer than a football field. However, owls are farsighted and have difficulty focusing on close objects.
Correct
You're definitely a morning person. Give it another shot!
Correct
Not bad. Hit the snooze button and try again later.
Correct
Bravo! You're as nocturnal as a vampire. Or a gecko.
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