3 ms·
Mysteries of elephant sleep revealed
- taneq 10y ago> "We had the idea that elephants should be the shortest sleeping mammal because they're the largest," said Prof Manger. "Why this occurs, we're not really sure." Off the cuff, probably because of the squared-cubed law? Small mammals need to sleep a lot to conserve energy. Larger mammals have a greater reserve of energy for their size and so can afford to remain non-dormant for a greater proportion of time.
- kqr2 10y agoBut wouldn't blue whales which are the largest mammal sleep even less?
- taneq 10y agoI was curious so I looked it up: http://www.whalefacts.org/do-whales-sleep/ http://www.whalefacts.org/do-whales-sleep/ It turns out that whales don't really 'sleep' per se, because they have to surface to breathe.
- idlewords 10y agoThat's making a lot of assumptions about the purpose of sleep. Why all the REM weirdness and altered state of consciousness if it's just about conserving energy?
- taneq 10y agoIt's not just about conserving energy, but it seems safe to assume it's also about conserving energy.
- serg_chernata 10y ago"How elephants survive on so little sleep remains a mystery." So, what mysteries have been revealed exactly?
- sametmax 10y agoYeah click bait at its best
- muffinatop 10y agoThat's why elephants are so pissed off all the time. If I only slept for 2 hours per day, I would charge at anything showing up next to me. :D