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Wildlife Words - crepuscular

Our first two Wildlife Words were diurnal and nocturnal. The next word is related…

crepuscular

Pronunciation: \kri-ˈpəs-kyə-lər\
Function: adjective
Date: 1668
1 : of, relating to, or resembling twilight : dim <crepuscular light>
2 : occurring or active during twilight <crepuscular insects> <crepuscular activity>

(Source: Merriam-Webster)

While diurnal and nocturnal refer to day and night animals respectively, crepuscular describes animals that are active during the twilight of dawn and/or dusk. Some crepuscular animals may even be active during bright moons.

Biologists believe that these animals like the twilight as they can avoid both nocturnal and diurnal predators!

Among our Noah’s Pals collection, deer, moose, and skunks are well known crepuscular animals.

This entry was posted on January 15, 2008 at 3:46 pm and is filed under Wildlife Words. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Wildlife Words - crepuscular”

  1. Wildlife Words - matutinal « The Noah’s Pals Blog Says:
    May 5, 2008 at 4:02 pm

    [...] The Noah’s Pals Blog Learn about endangered and vulnerable animals. Play great games and win cool prizes. « Wildlife Words - crepuscular [...]

  2. Wildlife Words - vespertine « The Noah’s Pals Blog Says:
    May 5, 2008 at 4:06 pm

    [...] Wildlife Word post described a matutinal animal that likes mornings, which is a specific type of crepuscular animal. Of course, there’s a word for the animals that enjoys [...]