What we do know is that essentially all animals rest — though detailed studies have mostly taken place in mammals and birds. Style of sleep varies greatly across the animal kingdom. Basic survival has likely driven different animals to develop their unique sleep habits, says Tom Stalf, president and CEO of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. The tallest animal on earth, giraffes, have often been touted as the mammal that sleeps least of all, despite weighing up to 3, pounds.
One commonly cited statistic estimates they sleep only 30 minutes per day. Part of the difficulty monitoring giraffe sleep stems from their exceptionally strange sleeping pattern. They take a series of short power naps, just several minutes at a time, throughout the day. This often happens while standing — likely an adaptation to protect themselves from predators, since the long-legged giraffe is slow to transition from laying down to standing.
The elephant is another contender for the least sleep in a mammal. Researchers who monitored two free-roaming African elephants found they slept only 2 hours per day, according to a study published in They, too, often sleep standing up.
Sleep patterns in captivity, such as in zoos where many studies are conducted, typically vary from actual behavior in the wild. This can skew the numbers reported for how much sleep each species needs each day. In contrast to the giraffe and elephant, male lions can snooze nearly 20 hours a day, with females clocking at least 15 hours.
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Buccal force pump. Oxford Reference. Ram ventilation. Learn more about Animals and Sleep. Can Dogs Have Melatonin? By Austin Meadows November 3, How Do Fish Sleep? By Danielle Pacheco September 10, By Sarah Shoen September 10, By Tom Ryan June 23, By Alexa Fry February 17, How Do Animals Sleep?
By Eric Suni February 15, Related Reading Animals. Other Articles of Interest Baby Sleep. There's no better time to start the journey to improving your sleep.
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One reason mammals need REM sleep is to keep the skull and brain warm. In turn, this keeps bodily functions normal and regenerative processes running smoothly. Metabolism and the ability to process food is one function particularly influenced by REM sleep. Without REM sleep, most mammals can die, because the body will essentially shut down.
For some animals, like owls , this changes with age. This means that for the winter months, hibernating animals sleep at a level much deeper than REM in order to conserve energy. Marine organisms have vastly different sleep patterns compared to land and air animals.
Whales , for example, float vertically with half of their brain awake while they sleep. Whales only nap for about 7 percent of the day for up to 10 minutes at a time. Dolphins , on the other hand, sleep vertically at the surface of the water. In order to do this, they also sleep with one side of their brain engaged.
Almost all species of shark sleep the same way that dolphins do. Fish also go in and out of sleep frequently — both to avoid predators and to filter oxygen properly. They will stop swimming and float, or remain dormant in between natural structures under the water for protection and bob up and down.
Not much research has been done on the sleeping habits of amphibians. They have been observed sitting still and closing their eyes while sitting on foliage — which is assumed to be their sleep state, but researchers are still unsure.
Some species of newts , though, are able to achieve deep sleep. In hot climates, certain species of this amphibian will burrow deep into the ground. By doing this, they can find moisture and avoid predators for hours at a time.
Similarly, the barred tiger salamander burrows deep into the ground and spends most of its time here, both awake and asleep. The main difference with this animal, though, is that they are nocturnal. This means that during the day they will enter deep sleep and emerge once the sun goes down for brief hunting stints.
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