Scientists studying birds on King George Island in Antarctica, have found that Arctic penguins nap more than 10,000 times a day, which allows them to constantly monitor their nests, protecting their eggs and chicks from predators. This is stated in the article of the publication techinsider, reports UNN.
In total, the birds can doze 11 hours a day, never once falling into a continuous without once falling into a continuous sleep.
Previously, scientists have studied birds in captivity and noticed in their fragmented sleep, which they called "somnolence." In the latest study, experts found that this fragmented sleep persisted throughout the day, showing that penguins don't go into deep sleep.
The new work studied penguins in the wild, using electroencephalogram monitoring and continuous video recording. О microsleep was indicated by sleep-related brain activity and the closing of of the eyes. The scientists also noted a slight increase in sleep depth around noon, when the risk of predator attack is minimal.
Studies have shown that some species of animals typically sleep very little and seemingly without adverse effects. Savanna elephants sleep an average of two hours a day, and mostly standing up. Sometimes they go without sleep for up to 48 hours.
Large frigates can spend months in flight during the oceanic migrations. During this period, they may sleep less than an hour a night while they continue navigating and hunting. When they return to the nest, they sleep, napping for almost 13 hours a day.
Interestingly, in some cases, there are sex differences. sex differences, for example, male fruit flies need more than 10 hours of sleep a night, while females are perfectly content with four.