People defy inner clocks; the little penguin (pictured under) lives by them
Alex Ramsay/Alamy
The Internal Clock
Lynne Peeples (Out 24 September: Bloomsbury Tonic (UK); Riverhead Books (US))
The little penguin (Eudyptula minor), a tiny, blue chicken dwelling off the coast of southern Australia, speed-wobbles from the ocean to its burrow dwelling on the identical time each day – simply after sundown. Timing is essential: too early they usually miss the day’s remaining catch; too late and encroaching darkness makes them prey for orcas and feral cats.
Luckily for individuals who come to observe, environmental cues like daylight and phases of…
