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Who does not enjoy a long sleep from time to time? But some animals have spent the nap at another level … On the occasion of the World Day of Sleep (March 15), we play with fanfare (silent) for some of the somnolents of nature who have mastered the art of sleep.
Sleep is an essential part of the life of most animals, from fruit flies to humans. Despite the fact that a typical person will spend about a third of his life in the country of the sign of the head, there are still many things that we do not understand about this state of rest. What we make Know what are the many benefits of sleep – and conversely, the pitfalls of not being closed enough.
During this period of regular inactivity, our body repairs damaged cells and replenishes depleted energy reserves, as well as treats and consolidates memories, which improves the retention of new information and skills as well as the levels of concentration during our waking hours.
It is recommended that adult humans sleep 7 to 8 hours a day; for teenagers it is 9-10. For younger infants, who have much more growth to do, it can be up to 15 to 16 hours.
Of course, in the natural world, entering a period of deep sleep for weeks, if not months, can be a vital survival tactic. Often referred to as "hibernation" "catch-all", there are actually several forms of reduced activity in the animal kingdom, including sluggishness (state of reduced metabolism) and estivation (form of Summer hibernation during particularly hot or dry periods). ). Whatever their name, extended dormant periods allow many creatures to avoid extreme temperatures and times of the year when food and water will be scarce.
Here, we throw a light (nocturnal) on some animals that set records while catching ZZZ …
Most sleep for a mammal
Based on a 24-hour period, the king of diapers is the little brown bat. In captivity, it has been established that these mammals of North America slept 19.9 hours in a row, more than 80% of the day. (Some biologists have pointed out that these are artificial conditions, so this is not a true reflection of the duration of their natural sleep in the wild.)
The giant armadillo is in second place for this record. With 18.1 hours of sleep, he can sleep up to 75.4% of the day.
Most paradoxical sleep in a mammal
REM sleep is a period in the sleep cycle characterized by rapid eye movements and super-relaxed muscles that may appear to be temporary paralysis. In men, this is the stage at which we are most likely to dream. We spend up to 25% of the night in REM sleep, which equates to about two hours.
Meanwhile, the Australian platypus records about eight hours of REM sleep in one sitting. Although we are not sure, platypus is unlikely to dream like us, as most of their EMR activity is in the more primitive brain stem region than in the forebrain. Since monotremes such as the platypus and echidnæ are considered the oldest mammals still extant in the world, it is a strong indicator that paradoxical sleep must
Less sleep for a mammal
In contrast, the least sleeping mammal is the African bush elephant, which sleeps only two hours a day on average. As a scientific paper published in 2017 reveals, Professor Paul Manger and colleagues at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, conducted a study of sleep behavior in this species by attaching straps to the trunk of the species. two female matriarchs loose in Botswana.
The watches evaluated the behavior and activity of sleep / sleep of their subjects. The researchers therefore concluded that the elephants were asleep if observers had noticed that their trunks had remained motionless for more than five minutes. Thus, the researchers finally revealed that wild African bush elephants, which often sleep upright, sleet four to five a day, which collectively represents only two hours in total per day.
Marsupial the most sleepy
The koalas spend up to 18 hours of the day in the land of the Nod. A major reason is their high fiber diet of eucalyptus leaves, which require a lot of energy to be digested.
The daily food intake of a koala is usually 600 to 800 g (21 to 28 oz) of leaves, which is equivalent to a human living with a single bowl of cereals a day!
Lowest body temperature in a mammal
An Arctic squirrel is a creature that uses sleep to escape the harsh climate of its original range, Alaska and Canada. During his nine months of sleep, the longest hibernation of rodents – The body temperature of arctic polar squirrels can go down to -2.9 ° C (26 ° F).
To put this in context, a human will start to suffer from hypothermia if its core temperature falls below 35 ° C (95 ° F)!
These "ice-cold" rodents are thought to be able to survive to zero by "supercooling" their blood, which allows them to get rid of bodily fluids from tiny particles that ice crystals could form before they get wet. to settle in their burrow for the winter.
Every two or three weeks during their hibernation, their bodies automatically start to shake and shake for several hours to raise their temperature, all while the squirrel continues to sleep.
Discover more incredible animal records in Guinness World Records: Wild Things – outside now!
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