Editing Nocturnality (section)

==Origins==
[[File:Kiwi bird in Christchurch, New Zealand, 2002-01-01.jpg|thumb|The [[kiwi (bird)|kiwi]] is a family of nocturnal birds endemic to New Zealand.]]
While it is difficult to say which came first, nocturnality or diurnality, a hypothesis in [[evolutionary biology]], the [[nocturnal bottleneck]] theory, postulates that in the [[Mesozoic]], many ancestors of modern-day [[mammal]]s evolved nocturnal characteristics in order to avoid contact with the numerous diurnal predators.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gerkema|first1=Menno P.|last2=Davies|first2=Wayne I. L.|last3=Foster|first3=Russell G.|last4=Menaker|first4=Michael|last5=Hut|first5=Roelof A.|date=2013-08-22|title=The nocturnal bottleneck and the evolution of activity patterns in mammals|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|language=en|volume=280|issue=1765|pages=20130508|doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.0508|issn=0962-8452|pmc=3712437|pmid=23825205}}</ref> A recent study attempts to answer the question as to why so many modern day mammals retain these nocturnal characteristics even though they are not active at night. The leading answer is that the high [[visual acuity]] that comes with diurnal characteristics is not needed anymore due to the evolution of compensatory sensory systems, such as a heightened sense of smell and more astute auditory systems.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Torres|first1=Christopher R.|last2=Clarke|first2=Julia A.|date=2018-11-07|title=Nocturnal giants: evolution of the sensory ecology in elephant birds and other palaeognaths inferred from digital brain reconstructions|journal=Proc. R. Soc. B|language=en|volume=285|issue=1890|pages=20181540|doi=10.1098/rspb.2018.1540|issn=0962-8452|pmid=30381378|pmc=6235046}}</ref>  In a recent study, recently extinct [[elephant bird]]s and modern day nocturnal [[kiwi bird]] skulls were examined to recreate their likely brain and skull formation. They indicated that [[olfactory bulb]]s were much larger in comparison to their [[optic tectum|optic lobes]], indicating they both have a common ancestor who evolved to function as a nocturnal species, decreasing their eyesight in favor of a better sense of smell.<ref name=":0" /> The anomaly to this theory were [[Simian|anthropoids]], who appeared to have the most divergence from nocturnality of all organisms examined. While most mammals did not exhibit the morphological characteristics expected of a nocturnal creature, reptiles and birds fit in perfectly. A larger [[cornea]] and [[pupil]] correlated well with whether these two classes of organisms were nocturnal or not.<ref name="HallEtAl" />