biological rhythm
Any periodic, more-or-less regular fluctuation or cycle in a biological system or process that is not wholly under the control of environmental cues but is controlled centrally by a biological clock. ...
biorhythm
A roughly periodic change in the behaviour or physiology of an organism that is generated and maintained by a biological clock. Well-known examples are the annual and circadian rhythms occurring in ...
Cell traffic
Zip codes, stepping-stones and the recognition of life's complexityAt medical school in Liège in the 1920s, Albert Claude's microscope frustrated him. In nearby Louvain, as long ago as 1839 ...
chronobiology
The branch of biology concerned with biological rhythms. See biological clock, biological rhythm. See also alpha wave, basic rest-activity cycle, beta wave, circadian rhythm, circannual rhythm, delta ...
circadian rhythm
Any 24-hour periodicity in the behaviour or physiology of animals or plants. Examples are the sleep/activity cycle in many animals and the growth movements of plants. Circadian rhythms are generally ...
circannual rhythm
Any biological rhythm involving a biological or psychological process that occurs or fluctuates at intervals of approximately one year, even in controlled environments from which seasonal cues have ...
compass orientation
The ability to head in a particular compass direction without reference to landmarks possessed by many migratory birds (e.g. starling, Sturnus vulgaris), other vertebrates (e.g. some fishes, ...
daily routine
A day-long pattern of behaviour that tends to be repeated day after day. Environmental changes between night and day affect animals both directly and indirectly. Thus there may be changes in food ...
dinosaur
Literally the name means ‘terrible lizards’, but in fact the dinosaurs were not lizards. They were diapsid reptiles whose closest living relatives are the crocodilians and birds. Dinosaurs first ...
entrainment
1 The picking up and setting into motion of particles, either by wind, water, or ice. The main entrainment forces are provided by impact, lift force, and turbulence.2 In meteorology, the ...
evolutionary species concept
A suggestion made by G. G. Simpson for adapting the biological species concept for a palaeontological context: ‘a species is a lineage with its own evolutionary role and tendencies’.
feeding
All behaviour that involves the obtaining, manipulation, and ingestion of food. Compare foraging.
Flowering
Colourful variations on a theme of genetic pathwaysThe flowers on display in the 200-year-old research garden in Valencia, Jardí Botànic in the Catalan language, change with the seasons, as ...
hibernation
A strategy for surviving winter cold that is characteristic of some mammals. Metabolic rate is reduced to a minimum and the animal enters a deep sleep, surviving on food reserves stored in the body ...
homing
The return by an animal to a particular site that is used for breeding or sleeping. The term may apply to the return of an animal to its nest after foraging, or to seasonal migrations between ...
infradian rhythm
Any biological rhythm with a period of less than a day. See alpha wave, basic rest-activity cycle, beta wave, delta wave, gamma wave, sensorimotor rhythm, theta wave. See also biological clock, ...
lunar rhythms
Rhythmic behaviour that is entrained to the movement of the moon and the tides. The lunar cycle of 29.5 days is known to influence a variety of aspects of behaviour, primarily in marine animals. For ...
luteinizing-hormone releasing hormone
A releasing hormone that is secreted by the hypothalamus in response to a biological clock at the beginning of a woman's menstrual cycle and that in turn stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete ...
pacemaker neuron
Any of a number of different nerve cells in the autonomic nervous system that trigger regular cyclic activities, such as heartbeat, breathing, and EEG waves. The suprachiasmatic nucleus is thought to ...
