The Biological Clockwork: How Life Forms Experience Time at Different Speeds

The Biological Clockwork: How Life Forms Experience Time at Different Speeds | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Systematic Review The Biological Clockwork: How Life Forms Experience Time at Different Speeds Rupesh Nandi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7128140/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Time perception varies markedly across taxa, reflecting species-specific neurobiology, metabolism, and ecology. Here we review current empirical evidence indicating that animals and even non-neural life forms experience time at different subjective scales. We surveyed literature on visual temporal resolution (critical flicker fusion), circadian rhythms, and timing behavior across diverse taxa. Insects (e.g. cockroaches, bees), with small size and high metabolic rates, exhibit extremely high flicker fusion thresholds (hundreds of Hz), whereas many mammals (e.g. mice) show much lower thresholds (tens of Hz). Birds have generally high temporal resolution (e.g. chickens ~87–100 Hz; peregrine falcons ~129 Hz). Aquatic species vary with environment: diurnal, shallow-water fishes and cephalopods often have high thresholds (tens of Hz) while deep-sea or nocturnal species show lower values. Plants lack neural perception but employ robust circadian clocks (∼24 h cycles) to time physiology (leaf movements, flowering). Even artificial systems implement internal clocks or sampling rates, but without subjective qualia. We synthesize these findings to argue that “time” is biologically experienced, not universally sensed: small, fast-metabolizing organisms parse the world in finer temporal detail (subjectively “slower” time), while larger, slower animals (and plants) operate on coarser temporal scales. These differences have ecological and evolutionary implications for behavior, as discussed. Structural Biology Wildlife Biology Structural Biology Wildlife Biology Time perception Critical flicker fusion Circadian rhythms Subjective time Metabolic scaling Comparative cognition Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7128140","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Systematic Review","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":485618608,"identity":"416bf21b-cab2-46ce-b345-9c64ce69a147","order_by":0,"name":"Rupesh Nandi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLACxgYQmdj88IOBDYjbeIBYLW3GEhVpYC6xWhIYJHjOHAYL4NViPiP34MOfO+7Im7MnNxhItp23W9t+GGhLjU00Li0yN/KSjXnPPDPc2fOw4UFh2+3kbWcSgVqOpeU24NAiIZFjJs3Ydphxw41EkC23k80OALUwNhzGp8X858+2w/YgLRK8beeSzc4/JKjFjIG37XAiWAvPmQN2ZjcI2cLzLlkaqCV5w5mHoEBOTjC7AbQlAZ9f2HMPfgQ6zHbD8fTHwKi0szc7n/7wwYcaG5xaGBh4ULmJYJUJOJVj0WKPV/EoGAWjYBSMSAAARmtrihUUergAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0511-5296","institution":"Independent Researcher","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rupesh","middleName":"","lastName":"Nandi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-15 08:29:33","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":true,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7128140/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7128140/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":86819931,"identity":"f73fe166-10a4-46cb-a456-41efcf9ea157","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-16 02:12:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":572814,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"TimePerceptionbyLifeForms.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7128140/v1_covered_7fdc9266-52b5-4ab4-aca1-d6661902c9cf.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Biological Clockwork: How Life Forms Experience Time at Different Speeds\u003c/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Independent Researcher ","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Time perception, Critical flicker fusion, Circadian rhythms, Subjective time, Metabolic scaling, Comparative cognition","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7128140/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7128140/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eTime perception \u0026nbsp;varies markedly across taxa, reflecting species-specific neurobiology, \u0026nbsp;metabolism, and ecology. Here we review current empirical evidence indicating \u0026nbsp;that animals and even non-neural life forms experience time at different \u0026nbsp;subjective scales. We surveyed literature on visual temporal resolution \u0026nbsp;(critical flicker fusion), circadian rhythms, and timing behavior across \u0026nbsp;diverse taxa. Insects (e.g. cockroaches, bees), with small size and high \u0026nbsp;metabolic rates, exhibit extremely high flicker fusion thresholds (hundreds of \u0026nbsp;Hz), whereas many mammals (e.g. mice) show much lower thresholds (tens of Hz). \u0026nbsp;Birds have generally high temporal resolution (e.g. chickens ~87–100 Hz; \u0026nbsp;peregrine falcons ~129 Hz). Aquatic species vary with environment: diurnal, \u0026nbsp;shallow-water fishes and cephalopods often have high thresholds (tens of Hz) \u0026nbsp;while deep-sea or nocturnal species show lower values. Plants lack neural \u0026nbsp;perception but employ robust circadian clocks (∼24 h cycles) to time \u0026nbsp;physiology (leaf movements, flowering). Even artificial systems implement \u0026nbsp;internal clocks or sampling rates, but without subjective qualia. We \u0026nbsp;synthesize these findings to argue that “time” is biologically experienced, \u0026nbsp;not universally sensed: small, fast-metabolizing organisms parse the world in \u0026nbsp;finer temporal detail (subjectively “slower” time), while larger, slower \u0026nbsp;animals (and plants) operate on coarser temporal scales. 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