Episode 239 - Nocturnality

Episode 239 - Nocturnality

From The Common Descent Podcast by Common Descent

March 15, 2026 · 2h 14m · Episode 361

About this episode

This episode explores the adaptations and evolution of nocturnal animals and their traits.

Creatures of the night! The world is a different place in the dark, and a whole array of organisms have adapted to being most active outside of daytime hours. This episode, we’ll explore the regular traits that allow nocturnal animals to get by, we’ll discuss some of the ways nocturnal evolution has shaped living species, and we’ll investigate which – if any – of these traits we can identify in the fossil record. In the news: snake hormones, Australian amphibians, ancient microbes, and baby dinosaurs. Time markers:Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00News: 00:07:25Main discussion, Part 1: 00:39:15Main discussion, Part 2: 01:14:30Patron question: 02:03:45 Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/ Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/ Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org Musical Interludes are…

People in this episode

Host: Common Descent

Topics covered

  • nocturnality
  • animal adaptation
  • evolution
  • fossil record
  • snake hormones
  • amphibians
  • dinosaurs

Keywords

  • nocturnal animals
  • adaptation
  • evolution
  • fossil record
  • snake hormones
  • amphibians
  • dinosaurs

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: On the Origin of Species

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