photo credit: Praziquantel
In the first experiment to record the electrophysiology of sleep in a wild animal, three-toed sloths carrying miniature electroencephalogram recorders slept 9.63 hours per day--6 hours less than captive sloths did, reports an international team of researchers working on the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's Barro Colorado Island in Panama.
"We are fascinated that some species sleep far longer than others. If we can determine the reasons for variations in sleep patterns, we will gain insight into the function of sleep in mammals, including humans," said first author Niels Rattenborg, group leader of the Sleep and Flight Group at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology. "If animals behave differently in captivity (where all previous comparative studies were performed) than they do in the wild, measuring their brain activity in captivity can lead to the wrong conclusions."
Click here for the full article.
Loading ...
why do they sleep more in captive than in the wild?
The sleep pattern can be studies in a different way: just read the new memory foam mattress studies. Every person has a specific position for sleeping and this position provides comfort and relaxation during sleep. That should be a direction in which sleep whould be studied.