It's an interesting hypothesis. From the Triassic through the Cretaceous, mammals were somewhat marginal. A lot of burrowers, and they were by-and-large nocturnal. Dinosaurs might have seen them as nocturnal pests. Since dinosaurs―or at least non-avian dinosaurs―some mammals have adopted diurnal lifestyles. Some, but not most.
Again, it's a hypothesis, not a confirmed fact. But it highlights some interesting facts about us. One is that humans are much more visually oriented than other mammals. We have more acute vision than most mammals and can see in three colors. (If we had UV vision we might find it more trouble than it was worth.)
Then there's our ambivalent attitude toward the night. We don't, most of us, operate primarily at night. Some are afraid of it. But night also appears to us as a time of possibility, not bound by humdrum rules. That could be the old part of us calling out.
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Life has many ways of filling its niches, and the evidence specified in the descriptions makes the hypothesis that mammals were originally nocturnal seem fairly likely, except for the fact mammals were around before the dinosaurs showed up 260 million years ago. I guess they went underground. A 2019 article in Nature titled 'The Eyes of Mammals Reveal a Dark Past' - provides some more detail. One interesting point is that early mammals were diurnal until the arrival of dinosaurs followed by:
The Cretaceous/Palaeogene extinction “was the best thing that happened for mammals”, Kirk says. “Without this 10-kilometre-wide chunk of rock smashing into the Yucatán, who knows what mammals would look like today — probably still just a bunch of little shrew-like things trying not to become dinner.”
Reminded of another theory that suggested mammals had been at least a partial cause of the extinction, I wondered how that could be. It turns out to be a simple enough explanation that threw a light on how that could have happened in aftermath of the asteroid hit on the Yucatan. Apparently, the very large dinosaurs laid eggs that took 6 months or more to hatch after which the young dinos took years to grow to maturity. That gave mammals and birds (check out the Archaeopteryx) the opportunity to gain an evolutionary advantage.
I've long been interested in archeology and it's nice to see you are too.
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Here's the Bannon interview with Epstein Jer told you about. Even 5 minutes here and there provides an interesting insight into the man.
x.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/2017823355739754798
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