Nocturnal Mammal Ancestors Switched to Daytime Activity after Extinction of Non-Avian Dinosaurs
Nov 7, 2017 by News Staff / Source
A long-standing theory holds that the common ancestor to all mammals was nocturnal, but new research from Tel Aviv University (TAU) and University College London (UCL) reveals when mammals started living in the daytime for the first time and provides insight into which species changed behavior first.
Lead author Roi Maor, a researcher at TAU’s School of Zoology and UCL’s Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, and colleagues analyzed data of 2,415 extant species of mammals using computer algorithms to reconstruct the likely activity patterns of their ancient ancestors.
Two different mammalian family trees portraying alternative timelines for the evolution of mammals were used in the analysis.
http://www.sci-news.com/biology/nocturnal-mammal-ancestors-daytime-activity-05405.html
