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Chinstrap Penguin needs to sleep with one-eye open or – in microsleeps
New research published in the journal Science reveals that chinstrap penguins can engage in microsleeps, with the ability to sleep up to 10,000 times a day for an average of 4 seconds each time. The study, which observed 14 birds over 10 days, found that while the penguins engaged in short power naps, these microsleeps added up to 11 hours of rest per day.
This evolutionary adaptation allows the penguins to stay awake while nesting their eggs and guarding themselves from predators. The ability to rest in short bursts minimizes the risk of falling asleep at critical times, a feat that humans often struggle with.
The researchers noted, “Microsleeps, seconds-long interruptions of wakefulness by eye closure and sleep-related brain activity, are dangerous when driving and might be too short to provide the restorative functions of sleep. If microsleeps do fulfill sleep functions, then animals faced with a continuous need for vigilance might resort to this sleep strategy.”
The study found that the penguins engaged in bouts of bi-hemispheric and uni-hemispheric slow-wave sleep, resulting in the accumulation of more than 11 hours of sleep for each hemisphere.
Overall, this unique sleep strategy enables the penguins to maintain vigilance and safely rest, ultimately revealing the benefits of sleep in a different light.
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