Strange things about animal sleep

When migrating, the Swainson thrush stays awake all night and rests during the day. However, instead of long sleeps, they sleep many times, only 9 seconds each time. Sometimes they only close one eye, the other eye and half the brain still works.

Interesting discoveries about strange sleep of animals

People spend nearly a third of their lives sleeping. Sleep helps the nervous system to rest, which is the time when the body recovers. For animals too, sleep is extremely important and moreover, it contains many strange things.

Winter sleep

Winter in the Arctic , temperatures drop very low, accompanied by very scarce foods. When the ambient temperature drops, it is difficult to find food, polar bears start to hibernate. Polar bears also have a 10 cm thick fat layer that helps to keep the body warm, even when the temperature drops to -40 degrees C. Polar bears are very insulated, if observed with infrared cameras, we only see their feet only. Therefore, when encountering unfavorable winter conditions, or when a female bear becomes pregnant, they simply enter the cave, curl up and sleep to avoid cold and energy saving.

Their sleep often does not sink deeply.Heart rate decreased from 70 times to 8 times / minute, body temperature did not change. They can wake up immediately when needed. When in the cave, they do not eat and live on the body fat; During this time, they are not great, urinate.

Many other animals are also forced to go to bed in the winter because they cannot escape, do not eat, or do not have thick fur to keep warm, they must choose the form of . sleep (both saving energy , having escaped the enemy and avoided the cold) like the marmotte, or the brown bear in the Pyrenees, they slept for 6 months.

Hibernation is not only related to cold, but sometimes to deal with the scarcity of seasonal food . Like lemurs in Madagascar (although living in the tropics, winter temperatures can be 30 degrees Celsius), they still sleep during this period because they cannot find their favorite food. During sleep, their bodies rely on fat accumulated in their tails (accounting for up to 40% of the body's stored fat). During 7 months of hibernation, their body temperature fluctuates from a few degrees to dozens of degrees Celsius, depending on the external environment. By regulating body temperature according to ambient temperature, lemurs can reduce metabolic rate and save energy, which is quite similar to lizards and reptiles.

Strange sleeping patterns

Bats often hang upside down when sleeping. Perhaps bats are the only animals that choose to sleep like that. Bats are the only animals that can fly; Short and small hind legs are connected to the wing membrane so it is difficult to move. So when they fall to the ground, they cannot stand up, they cannot walk. Therefore, bats are only suitable for climbing up a high place, hanging upside down, when in danger, just let go and spread your wings to fly up.

Moreover, in the winter, in the upside-down posture, bats will reduce direct contact with the cold ceiling, burying their heads and bodies in the wing membrane, with thick mattress hair on them, preventing the way away from the cold outside air.

Birds can sleep standing on tree branches without falling to the ground. The secret lies in the ligament system in the tightened leg of the bird, which helps the foot firm into the branches. In addition, because the bird's brain grows more than the brain of reptile animals, the cerebral hemisphere has yet to have wrinkles, but the size has increased significantly. The cerebellum is the most developed, very large visual lobe, making them very well balanced even during sleep.

With migratory birds, they fly continuously. Their flights are often at night. The Swainson sparrow must travel about 3,000 miles from the residence, giving birth to the sunny areas of South America, Canada and Alaska. When spring came, they resumed a journey from South America to their homeland. Time to let them sleep?

Scientists have discovered them all night and rest during the day. However, instead of long sleeps, they will sleep many times , averaging 9 seconds each time. The bird sleeps in several different ways. Sometimes they only close one eye, while the other eye and half of the brain still work, helping them avoid the dangers lurking. Sometimes they aim at both eyes but sleep only dreamily.

This way of sleeping is similar to the African giraffe . When ' sleepiness ', giraffes only sleep a part of the brain and its neck is still held high. Only when deep sleep, new giraffes put their head on the tail, but not more than 20 minutes. Because giraffes are often suddenly attacked by lions, it uses the secret 'sleep and wake', combined with 'short-term deep sleep' to guard against enemies. In doing so, they achieve a goal that is both safe and appropriate.

Through learning about animal sleep, the researchers found that, when animals sleep, the brain can emit electromagnetic waves like a human brain, so animals can also dream . There are many dreaming species, long time, little dreaming species, shorter time. For example, squirrels and bats often dream, and birds have relatively little dreams, reptiles almost never dream. This may involve having to keep vigilant against the enemy at any time, so that they can flee in time.

Recently, scientists have discovered how dinosaurs sleep. A fossil found in Liaoning (China) shows that the dinosaur is in a sleeping position with his head curled under his wing, like the sleep of modern birds. This is the first discovery of how dinosaurs sleep.