Cathemerality: Difference between revisions

In the original manuscript for his paper, "Patterns of activity in the [[Common brown lemur|mayotte lemur]], ''Lemur fulvus mayottensis''," [[Ian Tattersall]] introduced the term "cathemerality" to describe a pattern of observed activity that was neither diurnal nor nocturnal.{{Sfn|Tattersall|1979}} Though the term "cathemeral" was proposed, "a reviewer took exception to the introduction of what he regarded as unnecessary new [[jargon]]. The result was that the term '[[diel]]' was substituted for 'cathemeral' in the published version." In 1987 Tattersall gave a formal definition of "cathemeral", turning to its [[Ancient Greek]] roots.

The word is a compound of two Greek terms: κατα = kata, through, and ήμέρα = hemera, day. The combination yields "kathemeral" or, in conventional English transliteration, "cathemeral," meaning "through the day, 'day' in this case being used in its sense of the full 24 h from midnight to midnight." Tattersall credits his father, Mr. Arthur Tattersall, and Dr. Robert Ireland, two classicists, for considering this lexical problem and proposing its solution.{{Sfn|Tattersall|1987}}