crepuscular
- adjective
- /krəˈpʌskjələr/
- Specialized
:
crepuscular
- She berated him then, and for a while the crepuscular birds retreated, but outside the wind had blown the sun out, and it was getting very cold.
- evening crepuscular
- crepuscular period
Animals like rattlesnakes and coyotes only emerge after after dark or at dawn and dusk, so they're crepuscular.
- Animals like rattlesnakes and coyotes only emerge after after dark or at dawn and dusk, so they're crepuscular.
Examples
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But I'm a crepuscular creature, and that suits me just fine.
Blog text (34) -
Those animals are also crepuscular and more apt to be out at those low light times, not negative light times or the lowest possible light times.
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But some entomologists think they are crepuscular, becoming active only at dawn or dusk.
Academic text (2006) -
They're crepuscular, right?
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Scientists have long assumed that owls and other crepuscular and nocturnal birds forgo such visual signals and rely solely on sound.
Academic text (2010) -
Heterocarpus ensifer appears en masse during the evening crepuscular period (1830-1900 h).
Academic text (1992) -
Maria del Mar Delgado joined the station as a doctoral student in 2002, and the following year the two founded the Night Ecology Group there, which focuses on several aspects of the life history of nocturnal and crepuscular species.
Academic text (2010) -
A smaller species, H. ensifer, tends to move erratically in swarms, appearing in large numbers in the upper part of its range (<250 m) during the evening crepuscular period and disappearing at dawn.
Academic text (1992) -
Many rainforest creatures are crepuscular, active primarily during twilight hours.
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Rattlesnakes and gila monsters are crepuscular, hunting mainly at dawn and dusk.
Antonyms
How Nocturnal
Surface Forms
Morphology
crepuscular = crepuscul + ar
Formed with the adjective suffix '-ar' on the combining form 'crepuscul-', which is not a productive or familiar English base, so learners cannot reliably infer 'twilight' or 'dawn/dusk activity' from the parts.
Etymology
Crepuscular comes from the Latin word crepusculum, which means 'twilight', so when animals are called crepuscular it means they are most active at dawn and dusk, the low-light times of day.