In the wild chinstrap penguins engage in a unique sleep pattern, obtaining more than 11 hours of rest each day– but not all at once. According to a new study, these birds nod off thousands of times per day, but for only around 4 seconds at a time, cumulatively accruing their daily sleep needs while remaining continuously vigilant over their nests.
Sleep seems to be ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom. Typically characterized by immobility and the relative loss of ability to sense and respond to the surrounding environment, sleep can render animals vulnerable to predation. In humans, insufficient sleep can lead to nodding off, the seconds-long interruption of wakefulness by eye closure, and sleep-related brain activity.
Such microsleeps can be dangerous, like when they occur while driving. However, it’s unclear if they are long enough to provide the same restorative functions that longer bouts of sleep are known to. If microsleeps do cumulatively fulfill sleep functions, they could provide an adaptive strategy for some DOI: 10.1126/science.adh0771