Ever find yourself nodding off for a second while at work or school after not getting enough sleep the night before? You may have something in common with chinstrap penguins.
A new study has documented the peculiar sleeping habits of this species of penguin. Instead of taking one long continuous period of sleep, chinstrap penguins prefer to sleep in seconds-long intervals, more than 10,000 times a day.
The peer-reviewed findings are set to be published in the journal Science on Dec. 1. An international team of researchers observed the sleeping patterns of a colony of chinstrap penguins on King George Island off the coast of Antarctica using remote sensors that measured the penguins’ brain waves and other non-invasive devices.
In chinstrap penguin colonies, a parent will often be required to guard the nest alone while the other parent is away in search of food, sometimes days at a time.
“As one penguin parent must therefore guard the eggs or small chicks continuously while its partner is away on foraging trips lasting several days, they face the challenge of needing to sleep while protecting their offspring. In addition, they also have to effectively defend their nest site from intruding penguins,” the authors wrote.
Taking “microsleeps” allows the parent to continuously guard its nest against predators and aggression from other penguins. On average, these microsleeps only lasted around four seconds. However, when added up, the researchers say the penguins accumulated between 11.5 to 12 hours of sleep per day.
In humans, microsleeps are typically the result of poor sleep during the night and can be dangerous while driving or operating heavy machinery. It remains unclear whether microsleeps can perform restorative functions for the brain, or if these are simply failed attempts to sleep.
While this study didn’t measure the restorative effects of microsleeps, if any, the researchers say the breeding success of these penguins suggests that microsleeps can perform some incremental benefits for the body.
“If microsleeps are more than failed attempts to initiate sleep and do fulfill sleep functions, then relying on microsleeps might be an adaptive strategy under ecological circumstances that require constant vigilance,” the authors wrote.
“The investment in microsleeps by successfully breeding penguins suggests that the benefits of sleep can accrue incrementally.”
Je, umewahi kukosa usingizi wakati wa kazi au shuleni baada ya kulala usingizi wa kutosha usiku uliotangulia? Huenda ukawa na jambo fulani la kawaida pamoja na pengwini wenye kamba za kidevu. Uchunguzi mpya umeonyesha tabia za pekee za kulala za aina hii ya penguin. Badala ya kulala kwa muda mrefu, pengwini hao hupendelea kulala mara 10,000 au zaidi kwa siku. Matokeo ya utafiti huo yatatolewa katika jarida la sayansi la Science tarehe 1 Desemba. Watafiti wa kimataifa walichunguza tabia ya kulala ya pengwini wa aina ya chinstrap kwenye kisiwa cha King George, karibu na pwani ya Antaktika, kwa kutumia vifaa vya kupima mawimbi ya ubongo na vifaa vingine. Katika makoloni ya penguin aina ya chinstrap, mara nyingi mzazi mmoja lazima alinde kiota peke yake wakati mzazi mwingine yuko mbali akitafuta chakula, nyakati nyingine kwa siku nyingi. Kwa hiyo, kwa kuwa mzazi mmoja wa penguin lazima alinde mayai au vifaranga wadogo daima wakati mwenzi wake anapokuwa mbali akitafuta chakula kwa siku kadhaa, wanakabili tatizo la kuhitaji kulala huku wakilinda watoto wao. Kwa kuongezea, pia wanapaswa kulinda mahali pa viota vyao kwa ufanisi kutokana na pengwini wanaovamia, <unk> waandishi waliandika. Kutumia " usingizi mdogo " humruhusu mzazi kulinda kiota chake daima dhidi ya wawindaji na uhasama kutoka kwa pengwini wengine. Kwa wastani, usingizi huo mdogo ulidumu sekunde nne tu. Kwa mujibu wa utafiti huo, pengwini hao walipata usingizi wa saa 11.5 hadi 12 kwa siku. Kwa kawaida, usingizi mdogo ni matokeo ya usingizi mbaya wakati wa usiku na unaweza kuwa hatari wakati wa kuendesha gari au kuendesha mashine nzito. Haijulikani kama usingizi mdogo unaweza kufanya kazi za kurudisha ubongo, au kama hizi ni majaribio yaliyoshindwa ya kulala. Ingawa utafiti huu haukupima athari za kurudisha za microstreams, ikiwa zipo, watafiti wanasema mafanikio ya uzazi wa pengwini hawa yanaonyesha kwamba microstreams inaweza kufanya faida za kuongezeka kwa mwili. "Ikiwa microstreams ni zaidi ya majaribio yaliyoshindwa kuanzisha usingizi na kutimiza kazi za usingizi, basi kutegemea microstreams inaweza kuwa mkakati wa kukabiliana chini ya hali ya ikolojia ambayo inahitaji tahadhari ya mara kwa mara", waandishi waliandika. <unk>Uwekezaji katika usingizi mdogo na uzazi wa mafanikio wa pengwini unaonyesha kwamba faida za usingizi zinaweza kuongezeka hatua kwa hatua.<unk>