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I am in the process of building two separate branches of the same race for my science-fantasy setting. One branch The Tribe of Light is Diurnal and The Tribe of Darkness Nocturnal. I have some of their basic traits in mind...

  • The Tribe of Light is built for power and endurance and are shorter and heavier built than the Tribe of Darkness.

  • The Tribe of Darkness is built for speed and agility and they are taller and slighter built than the tribe of Light.

  • Both are omnivorous, possessing keen senses, fleet-footedness and a wiry-strength.

However I find those traits alone unsatisfactory.

I ask what are physical traits common across even different nocturnal and diurnal species respectively. So that I can incorporate at least some of the into the nocturnal and diurnal branches of the humanoid race that I am working on.

Trismegistus
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    "There is more...." Seems like maybe you meant to write more in this question? It would help, in fact, because as it stands this seems to me perilously close to idea generation. – CAgrippa Mar 12 '16 at 16:35
  • Your question is way too broad in its current form. I would suggest getting rid of your whole backstory about the tribe of light and dark, and rather just edit your question so you ask: "What are some physical traits that are common to diurnal and nocturnal species, and how would I apply them to animal/humanoid tribes?" However, even then, your question seems borderline idea generation and off-topic for this site. – fi12 Mar 12 '16 at 18:39
  • @CAgrippa No this is not, in the question I asked specifically for traits common to diurnal and nocturnal species? – Trismegistus Mar 12 '16 at 19:29
  • @fi12 My question is not "too broad" it is very specific "are there common traits possessed by nocturnal and diurnal species. – Trismegistus Mar 12 '16 at 19:33
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    Your question is asking for an answer which would require list format - eg: too broad. – Aify Mar 12 '16 at 19:35
  • @Aify I have asked other questions like that and gotten answer(http://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/37605/what-minerals-and-metals-in-particular-were-vital-to-the-development-of-early-ci), in list format. – Trismegistus Mar 12 '16 at 20:21
  • Just because you've asked similar questions that weren't closed as too broad before doesn't mean that you can ask questions that are considered too broad now. Also, just because you got an answer to it then doesn't mean that it wasn't off topic back then. If I had seen that question, I would have voted to close it instantly on the same basis. – Aify Mar 12 '16 at 21:33
  • @Aify You can vote to close old questions as well, if you come across them and feel they should be closed. (I wouldn't really recommend that you go looking for questions to vote to close, though.) – user Mar 13 '16 at 09:29
  • @MichaelKjörling I know, but I'm too lazy to close old questions that already have accepted answers and don't already have close votes on them. – Aify Mar 13 '16 at 10:06
  • @Aify It does it set a precedent for questions like this one being accepted as legitimate. There are also other questions like this one on this site(http://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/14741/what-would-be-the-evolutionary-adaptations-of-a-subterranean-fantasy-race?rq=1). Your personal distastes is not a suitable judge on the validity of question. – Trismegistus Mar 13 '16 at 20:01
  • @Trismegistus The site is in a phase right now where we are trying to define the scope properly. In order to do that, we cannot use previous questions as a precedence. The question you linked would have been closed as too broad almost instantly if asked today. – Aify Mar 13 '16 at 20:20
  • I'd recommend swapping your characteristics. Running around in the dark is much more likely to get hurt than in the light. – WhatRoughBeast Mar 14 '16 at 03:15
  • @WhatRoughBeast I was going off the idea that the nocturnals relied more up ambush thus were built to slink around and take prey by surprise. While the diurnals were more direct and fought their pray into submission, thus were of a stouter build. – Trismegistus Mar 15 '16 at 17:26
  • @Aify My point is that there have been and are now questions that are far broader in scope and nebulous than my own. Which asked for something specific. You are going to have to close every question which is not an exactly "a if x then y", Type of question. Which will be completely undermine the effectiveness of a site that is supposed to be about world building. Which even when limited to strictly hard-science requires considerable imagination. – Trismegistus Mar 15 '16 at 17:40
  • @Trismegistus like I said before, questions in the past that are far broader in scope should not be used as the standard for what we want to accept as the site restriction - "Too broad" Is a close reason because we don't want those questions on this site; regardless of previous users actions regarding closing broad questions or not, the current users should close based on the current accepted standard, not previously okay standards. – Aify Mar 16 '16 at 06:38
  • @ My point was that if you refuse to accept any question that isn't a "if X then Y" you are going to blunt this site's effectiveness at resolving peoples world-building quandaries. Many things start general and then are whittled down to the specific. isn't until they have been able to talk and exchange with others that they are able to arrive at the specific. – Trismegistus Mar 17 '16 at 12:40
  • @Aify I strongly suggest a better worded close reason than "Idea Generation." I think that should be taken to Meta and discussed, because there's still a lot of confusion on what that phrase even means, and it seems to be a spectrum rather than a concise standard. – The Anathema Mar 17 '16 at 14:43
  • @TheAnathema This is a good post for reference. For the record, I VTC'D too broad because Idea Generation has since been nuked (as it was, like you said, a badly worded reason). IMO, since this question has no objective way to discern a "best" answer other than via the length of the list provided, this question is both too broad and opinion based. – Aify Mar 17 '16 at 16:24
  • @Trismegistus Many of my own questions are not "if X then Y" questions - however, my questions have sufficient restrictions in order to allow for the choosing of a "best" answer - I don't simply ask for a list straight up, as your question is doing right now. Questions require restrictions, and yours basically has none, therefore it is too broad (and idea generation). – Aify Mar 17 '16 at 16:27
  • @Aify After skimming them I would classify most of your questions as idea generation. You prepossess a what if then let things go from there. I have asked for very specif information relevant to an element of my world-building. Traits common to diurnal and nocturnal animal species respectively. The best answer is the one that provides the most complete information. – Trismegistus Mar 17 '16 at 17:01
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    I'm voting to close because the question is too broad. The OP doesn't state whether these are humanoid creatures or not, nor anything about their environment, technology levels or the interactions between these two groups. These could easily be two different species but that isn't stated. – Green Mar 17 '16 at 17:50
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    I really like the question, it's just not answerable without additional information. – Green Mar 17 '16 at 17:50
  • I believe there are examples (or at least hypothetical examples) of speciation into nocturnal and diurnal branches. If rather than specifying traits, the question asked "are there examples of speciation...?" and then as a bonus question asked about the traits that might accompany that speciation, I'd be pretty happy with the question. – Jim2B Mar 17 '16 at 18:51
  • @Green The title of the question indicates that the races being built are humanoid. – Trismegistus Mar 17 '16 at 20:14
  • @Jim2B why that question format, it seems a very round about way to arrive at the answer that I'm looking. – Trismegistus Mar 17 '16 at 20:18
  • It has to do with the specificity of the traits. There's no telling whether the speciation would cause a specific trait. Although we could say whether a trait was consistent with the speciation. – Jim2B Mar 17 '16 at 20:24
  • How do I fix this. I thought my question was clear,apparently that mistaken. I am looking for traits common across nocturnal and diurnal animal species. So that I can incorporate at least some of the in to the nocturnal and diurnal branches of a humanoid race that I am working on. – Trismegistus Mar 17 '16 at 20:37
  • I think the 3rd and 4th sentence of ^^this^^ comment work nicely. – Jim2B Mar 17 '16 at 20:39

3 Answers3

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Generally speaking, nocturnal creatures have great night vision, while not necessarily very good vision in the light, and vice versa, so that's where I'd start.

Their diets might differ a bit as well, with the diurnal species cultivating the land and eating cereal, and grains, while the nocturnal ones might live in a more underground setting (caves, etc.), and maybe harvest mushrooms and the like, but generally be more predatorial and hunter-gatherer in nature.

This works well with the traits listed above because the diurnal race would use their greater strength and endurance to plow fields, etc., while the nocturnal race would be more suitable as raiders/hunters/scavengers.

AndreiROM
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AndelROM has stated some very good generalities for nocturnal and diurnal creatures. Consider my answer as a continuation of his answer.

  • If the nocturnal tribe never wander out during the daylight, then there should be some difference in the skin coloration too. Nocturnal people should be lacking some coloration pigments and should have paler skin color than the diurnal tribe people.

  • The nocturnal people would have at least slightly more refined sense of hearing. Mammals in general were confined night life during the age of dinosaurs (Mesozoic Period) and this resulted in a very advanced form of ear and brain part related to hearing. During the day time, vision gets to slightly suppress other senses.

  • If the nocturnal and diurnal difference has been around for at least 30 generations, you might also expect a slight difference in the structure of their legs. Fast running creatures tend to have a longer shin than slower creatures, when the total leg length is equal. Cheetahs, chicken and horses are good examples.

Youstay Igo
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The process by which speciation occurs in a geographic region shared by both populations is called Sympatric Speciation. This is a $\text{"Real Thing"}^{TM}$.

How it happens

The above Wikipedia article is pretty dense. Here's a relevant snippet"

For example, micro-allopatry, also known as macro-sympatry, is a condition where there are two populations whose ranges overlap completely, but contact between the species is prevented because they occupy completely different ecological niches (such as diurnal vs. nocturnal). This can often be caused by host-specific parasitism [or predation], which causes dispersal to look like a mosaic across the landscape. Micro-allopatry is included as sympatry according to spatial definitions, but, as it does not satisfy panmixia, it is not considered sympatry according to population genetics definitions.

One example of how this might happen is you have a predator with peak activity during a specific time of day (e.g. a sight oriented predator that doesn't tolerate high temperatures might be most active in the morning). Populations of the prey species which are most active outside of the predator's peak activity (e.g. afternoon and dawn) would avoid the predator, have a better chance of survival, and be more likely to pass on their genes.

Since predators adapt to the behavior of prey and vice versa, eventually this will drive one population of the prey species to be active earlier and earlier with the other to be active later and later.

Eventually the two populations of the prey species will not share the same active period and not interact appreciably. Over time this will cause speciation.

Traits of the two groups

There is no certainty about what traits the two groups will develop. Obviously they'll develop traits that help them survive in the environment their population uses. For example, we don't know whether the nocturnal group will develop low light sensitive, echo location, or improved sense of smell. However, the trait will be consistent with neutral or positive chances of survival. Traits with negative survival potential are quickly weeded out.

To get the specific traits that you want really has little to do with the nocturnal/diurnal speciation and more to do with the specific evolutionary pressures those environments impose on those populations.

Some possibilities for your specific traits:

  1. short & heavy - is a good configuration for conserving heat, cold environment? Also good for sprinters
  2. tall & wiry - is a good configuration to ridding the body of waste heat. Also a good shape for distance running
  3. keen senses - a requirement for spotting prey or avoid predators
  4. fleet footedness (over short or long distances?) good for catching prey by running it down or avoiding predators

Some possible traits for nocturnal population:

  1. sense tuned for the dark: echo location, low light vision, good sense of smell, one, some, or all the above
  2. if, like humans, vitamin D is generated by exposure to the sun, then very low melanin levels will be a requirement (pale skin).
  3. you could postulate a tougher skin to deal with brushing against plants and rocks in the dark
  4. etc.

Some possible traits for diurnal population

  1. ability to see clearly at longer distances
  2. darker skin to deal with UV radiation
  3. brain better at ranged weaponry (e.g. bow)

Note your body configurations are good for the opposite of what you've proposed. Heavy, short people are better for the cold that we normally associate with night time. But if you could figure out a rationale for why it is cold during the day and warm at night, it still works.

Jim2B
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  • Why is the reverse-better than what I initially had in mind. The tribes body types were planed around different methods of hunting and combat. I saw the Light-Tribe as more like pursuit-predators, and quite willing to stand their ground and fight. The Dark Tribe were more like Ambush predators, hit hard fast then slink away into the shadows, shying away from direct confrontation. – Trismegistus Mar 17 '16 at 20:33
  • My comment on body types solely had to do with temperature regulation. You can write your story so that other factors were more important (as you stated in your comment above). – Jim2B Mar 17 '16 at 20:41