{{Short description|Natural world activity in early morning}} [[File:Dawn in the Masai Mara.jpg|thumb|Birds flying before dawn over the Maasai Mara]] [[File:Twilight_description_full_day.svg|thumb|Matutinal activity occurs in the twilight period from dawn to sunrise]]
In the life sciences, '''matutinal''', '''matinal''' (in entomology),<ref name=":112">{{Cite journal |last1=Estes|first1=James R. |last2=Thorp|first2=Robbin W. |date=1975 |title=Pollination Ecology of Pyrrhopappus carolinianus (Compositae) |jstor=2441589 |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=148–59 |doi=10.2307/2441589}}</ref><ref name=":122">{{Cite journal |last1=Linsley|first1=E. G. |last2=Cazier|first2=M. A. |date=1970 |title=Some Competitive Relationships among Matinal and Late Afternoon Foraging Activities of Caupolicanine Bees in Southeastern Arizona (Hymenoptera, Colletidae) |jstor=25082327 |journal=Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=251–61}}</ref> or '''matutine''' animals are active around morning twilight, when they scan for mates, mate, and forage.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303719233 |title=Aeshna viridis is an early bird - Matutinal matings in a crepuscular species (Odonata: Aeshnidae) |last1=Borkenstein |first1=Angelika |last2=Schröter|first2=Asmus |last3=Jödicke|first3=Reinhard |journal=Odonatologica |date=2016-06-01 |volume=45 |issue=1/2 |pages=37–56 |doi=10.5281/Zenodo.50848}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last1=Robinson|first1=Michael H. |last2=Robinson|first2=Barbara |date=1979-08-24 |title=By Dawn's Early Light: Matutinal Mating and Sex Attractants in a Neotropical Mantid |journal=Science |language=en |volume=205 |issue=4408 |pages=825–27 |doi=10.1126/science.205.4408.825 |issn=0036-8075 |pmid=17814859|bibcode=1979Sci...205..825R |s2cid=22448636 }}</ref><ref name=":52">{{Cite journal |last1=Doyle|first1=Thomas K. |last2=Bennison|first2=Ashley |last3=Jessopp|first3=Mark |last4=Haberlin|first4=Damien |last5=Harman|first5=Luke A. |date=2015-10-08 |title=A dawn peak in the occurrence of 'knifing behaviour' in blue sharks |journal=Animal Biotelemetry |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=46 |doi=10.1186/s40317-015-0084-1 |issn=2050-3385 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2015AnBio...3...46D }}</ref>
Matutinal and vespertine behaviors are the morning and evening aspects of crepuscular activity.
Matutinal behaviour is likely adaptive because at those times, there may be less inter-species competition and higher availability of food.<ref name=":42">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/Investigatory_Behavior_toward_Surface_Objects_etc_White_Shark_Book.pdf |title=Investigatory Behavior toward Surface Objects and Nonconsumptive Strikes on Seabirds by White Sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, at Seal Island, South Africa (1997-2010) |last1=Hammerschlag|first1=Neil |last2=Martin|first2=R. Aidan |date=2012 |publisher=Shark Research Committee |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |last3=Fallows|first3=Chris |last4=Collier|first4=Ralph |last5=Lawrence|first5=Rob}}</ref> It may also protect animals by avoiding diurnal and nocturnal predators.<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":32">{{Cite journal |last1=Ditchkoff|first1=Stephen S. |last2=Saalfeld|first2=Sarah T. |last3=Gibson|first3=Charles J. |date=2006-01-01 |title=Animal behavior in urban ecosystems: Modifications due to human-induced stress |journal=Urban Ecosystems |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=5–12 |doi=10.1007/s11252-006-3262-3 |bibcode=2006UrbEc...9....5D |s2cid=22514402 |issn=1083-8155}}</ref>
== Etymology == {{wiktionary}}
The word ''matutinal'' is derived from the Latin word ''{{wikt-lang|la|mātūtīnus}}'', meaning "of or pertaining to the morning", from ''Mātūta'', the Roman goddess of the morning or dawn (+ ''-īnus'' '-ine' + ''-ālis'' '-al').<ref>{{cite Dictionary.com|matutinal|access-date=2018-03-25}}</ref>
== Adaptive relevance == Selection pressures, such as high predatory activity or low food, may require behavioural adaptation. Changing the time of day when it is active is such an adaptation. For example, human activity, which is largely diurnal, has forced certain species (most often larger mammals) living in urban areas to shift their schedules to crepuscular ones.<ref name=":32" /> In environments where there is little or no human activity, these same species often do not exhibit this temporal shift.<ref name=":32" /> Although a nocturnal schedule might be safer, many of these animals depend on sight, so a matutinal or crepuscular schedule is especially advantageous as it allows animals to avoid predation, while having sufficient light to see.<ref name=":13" />
=== Matutinal mating === For certain species, commencing mating during the early morning's twilight period may be adaptive because it could reduce the risk of predation, increase the chance of finding mates, and reduce competition for mates, all of which may increase reproductive success.<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last1=Double|first1=M|last2=Cockburn|first2=A|date=2000-03-07|title=Pre-dawn infidelity: females control extra-pair mating in superb fairy-wrens. |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=267|issue=1442|pages=465–470|pmc=1690561|pmid=10737403|doi=10.1098/rspb.2000.1023}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last1=Green|first1=David J.|last2=Cockburn|first2=Andrew|last3=Hall|first3=Michelle L.|last4=Osmond|first4=Helen|last5=Dunn|first5=Peter O.|date=1995-12-22|title=Increased opportunities for cuckoldry may be why dominant male fairy-wrens tolerate helpers|journal=Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B|language=en|volume=262|issue=1365|pages=297–303|doi=10.1098/rspb.1995.0209|bibcode=1995RSPSB.262..297G|s2cid=84205531|issn=0962-8452}}</ref> left|thumb|213x213px|A praying mantis (''Mantis religiosa'') blending in with its environment. To mate, they must terminate this pose and take up a more vulnerable one. They only do this during matutinal hours.
==== Anti-predatory adaptation ==== Animals are generally more vulnerable during copulation (e.g., praying mantis), so mating during a time when there is less predatory activity may be an anti-predatory adaptation.<ref name=":13" /> Some species may even take up to several hours to finish mating, which increases this vulnerability.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321443883|title=Matutinal mating in Aeshna grandis and A. Viridis -A behavioural pair of twins prefers early-morning sex (Odonata: Aeshnidae)|last1=Borkenstein|first1=Angelika|last2=Schröter|first2=Asmus|last3=Jödicke|first3=Reinhard|journal=Odonatologica|date=2017-12-01|volume=46|issue=3/4|pages=207–226|doi=10.5281/zenodo.1040303}}</ref> For species that copulate for longer periods, shifting their mating schedule may additionally allow enough time for the male to completely inseminate the female (i.e., it will reduce the chance of having to escape from a predator mid-copulation). One example of a matutinal mating routine is exhibited by female tropical praying mantises (''Mantis religiosa).''<ref name=":13" /> To avoid detection from predators they use different stances to blend in with their environment. They can orient themselves to look like leaves or sticks. However, when females are ready to mate they will take up a different posture where they expose pheromone-emitting glands that attract mates, and in the process must disengage from their normal camouflaging stance. Likely to compensate for this vulnerability, females will initiate this stance only at first light when diurnal predators that are visual hunters are less active (e.g., birds and insectivorous primates).<ref name=":13" />
==== Reduced competition ==== thumb|202x202px|A superb fairywren (''Malurus cyaneus).'' This bird engages in extra-pair copulations during pre-dawn and early morning hours.Some animals engage in matutinal searching flights to find mates early in the morning. It is thought that this is adaptive because it increases the chance of finding mates, and reduces competition for mates (i.e., by flying directly to a potential mate before it has a chance to find other mates). This is supported by the mating behaviour of certain socially monogamous birds. For example, female superb fairywrens (''Malurus cyaneus)'', are a monogamous bird that perform extra-pair copulations during matutinal hours.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal|last1=Westneat|first1=David F.|last2=Sherman|first2=Paul W.|date=1997-10-01|title=Density and extra-pair fertilizations in birds: a comparative analysis|journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology|language=en|volume=41|issue=4|pages=205–215|doi=10.1007/s002650050381|bibcode=1997BEcoS..41..205W |s2cid=26703064|issn=0340-5443}}</ref> One explanation for the prevalence of extra-pair copulation is that it enhances the gene pool of the species' offspring.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233821647|title=EPP results from female preference for high-quality males in the blue tit|journal=Nature|last1=Kempenaers|first1=Bart|last2=Verheyen|first2=Geert|last3=Van den Broeck|first3=Marleen|last4=Burke|first4=Terry|last5=Van Broeckhoven|first5=Christine|last6=Dhondt|first6=André|date=1992-06-11|volume=357|issue=6378|pages=494–496|doi=10.1038/357494a0|s2cid=4272979}}</ref> This activity is most often seen matutinally because they: (1) can avoid being followed by their monogamous partner in the dimly-lit early morning, (2) males are more likely to be present in their territory during these hours, and (3) males are more likely to have a higher quantity of sperm in the early morning.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /> These points may apply to how matutinal mating is adaptive in other species.
Similar behaviours have been observed in other species, such as in males of two species of dragonflies (''Aeshna grandis'' & ''Aeshna viridis'').<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":2" /> They engage in matutinal searching flights each morning until they find a receptive female to mate with. A similar phenomenon is seen in male praying mantises, where they respond to the emerging light each morning by increasing flight activity.<ref name=":13" />
=== Matutinal foraging === Some animals exhibit increased foraging behaviour during the matutinal hours. Some examples of why this may be adaptive are: (1) it may increase predatory success and (2) competition for food may be reduced.<ref name=":52" /><ref name=":42" /> left|thumb|220x220px|A blue shark (''Prionace glauca).'' These sharks spend more time at the ocean's surface during matutinal hours - likely for predatory reasons.
==== Predatory adaptation ==== The blue shark (''Prionace glauca)'' is a predator that primarily hunts during the pre-dawn to dawn period.<ref name=":52" /> During matutinal hours, they spend more time than any other point in the day at the surface of the ocean.<ref name=":52" /> It is likely that they are taking advantage of the increased density of prey at the water's surface during dawn.<ref name=":42" /> It is also possible that, since only a thin layer at the surface of the ocean is dimly lit during this twilight period, the shark (coming up from the dark ocean depths) has vision of the prey, but the prey do not have vision of the shark, allowing the shark to sneak up on the prey, increasing predatory success.<ref name=":42" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last1=Hammerschlag|first1=Neil|last2=Martin|first2=R. Aidan|last3=Fallows|first3=Chris|date=2006-08-01|title=Effects of environmental conditions on predator–prey interactions between white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) at Seal Island, South Africa|journal=Environmental Biology of Fishes|language=en|volume=76|issue=2–4|pages=341–350|doi=10.1007/s10641-006-9038-z|bibcode=2006EnvBF..76..341H |s2cid=6426134|issn=0378-1909}}</ref>
==== Reduced competition ==== Some bees (e.g., ''Ptiloglossa arizonensis, Pt. jonesi, Caupolicana,'' and ''Hemihalictus lustrans'') forage matutinally, possibly because there is less competition for food during this period.<ref name=":112" /><ref name=":122" /> The ''Hemihalictus lustrans,'' for example, is a bee that works mutualistically with the dandelion ''Pyrrhopappus carolinianus'' during matutinal hours''.''<ref name=":112" /> ''Pyrrhopappus carolinianus'' flowers very early in the morning and ''Hemihalictus lustrans'' begins foraging at the same time. The bee tears open the dandelion's anthers just as it is flowering, which speeds up anthesis and ensures that it almost always has first claim to the dandelion's pollen.<ref name=":112" />
== Physiological evidence of adaptation == These matutinal behaviours may be induced by physiological adaptations. Robinson & Robinson<ref name=":13" /> reversed the day-night schedule of female tropical praying mantises (i.e., by placing them in light during the night, and in a chamber with no light during the day). After they adjusted to the schedule, the praying mantises were removed from their chambers at different times throughout the newly adjusted night period and placed in the light. Each praying mantis initiated their pheromone-emitting stance during this transition regardless of the time, which suggests that this behaviour depends solely on the transition from dark to light. The authors suggested that this was likely a physiological adaptation.<ref name=":13" />
== See also == * Crepuscular animal * Vespertine (biology) * Diurnality * Nocturnality * Crypsis
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
{{Light Ethology}}
Category:Ethology