Arabia Weather - A sudden nap for a few seconds is considered a sign of fatigue in a person, and it may be dangerous at times, such as taking a nap while driving. However, chinstrap penguins appear to take more than 10,000 short naps per day, with each nap lasting about 4 seconds , according to a study published in the journal Science . These short naps enable the penguins to accumulate more than 11 hours of sleep per day .
The study authors suggest that this characteristic evolved in the chinstrap penguin as a result of its need to remain constantly awake, and they stress that the benefits of sleep may be cumulative even if they occur in short periods, which is different from the prevailing belief until now.
Chin-striped penguins are part of the wildlife of the Antarctic Peninsula and neighboring islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, where they number an estimated 8 million breeding pairs.
During the nesting period, penguins are responsible for monitoring their eggs to protect them from predatory birds, while the other partner goes searching for food. This period may sometimes last for several days, and males and females alternate this task on a regular basis.
The researchers, led by Paul-Antoine Lebourel of the Center for Neuroscience Research in Lyon, conducted a study on 14 penguins on King George Island in December 2019, recording electrical activity in their brains and neck muscles, and using accelerometers and GPS devices to record their movements and locations, and this data was added. To live observations and video recordings.
The results revealed that penguins sleep standing or lying down to incubate their eggs. The average time this activity takes is 3.91 seconds, and it is repeated more than 10,000 times a day .
The study shows that penguins in the vicinity of the group remain asleep for longer periods, possibly due to an increased level of noise and physical interaction with other penguins in the center of the colony.
The impact of these short naps on the penguins' rest has not been directly measured, but given their ability to reproduce, the researchers hypothesized that these naps might be beneficial to them.
In humans, excessively disrupted sleep, such as sleep apnea, has a negative impact on cognitive function and can lead to early neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
In a separate article commenting on the results of the study, also published in the journal Science , the scientists indicated that
“What may be abnormal in humans may be normal in birds and other species of animals, at least under certain conditions.”
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