There are many aspects of everyday life that remind us that human beings are also animals. One of these is sleep. It is essential for us, its lack can lead to health problems as well as a poor quality of life and if we look at how animals sleep and how much , it is essential for them too. It is about recovering the energy that will then be used to hunt and survive, to raise their young, and they more instinctively than us know that it should not be wasted at all. It is a “personal” question but also of conservation of the species . If for humans sleeping enough means 7-8 hours a day, for animals this amount varies a lot. How? This is what we are going to discover by telling the habits of the most interesting species and not all of them remain helpless like us while they rest!
How Much Animals Sleep: Whales and Dolphins
Both of these animals never rest 100%, they never “turn off” their heads but one of the two hemispheres of the brain remains on, alternating, allowing them to breathe on one side and on the other to avoid being caught by surprise by potential predators. However, there is a big difference in the amount of sleep between these two creatures. The whale gets around 8 hours a day, as we should do too, and in the meantime it swims and returns to the surface every now and then to breathe. The dolphin is a sleepyhead, it rests for 10 hours a day and stays close to the surface so it can breathe easily.
How Animals Sleep: Carnivores and Herbivores
Carnivores, on average, sleep more than herbivores , who normally have a strong need to defend themselves from attacks by predators hoping to catch them unprepared when they are resting.
A rather classic example is that of the lion , our king of the forest who, as a true king, can afford to sleep over 12 hours, up to 14. Among felines, it is not even the sleepiest, the tiger beats it by reaching 16 hours while the cheetah has more measure and sleeps 12 hours. Let’s move on to a domestic feline that spends about half a day lounging, usually at intervals, when and where it prefers, more or less like the dog that takes naps with light sleep for a total of 10-11 hours. The pig eats less than these two animals but not because it is particularly active, its main problem is that it has to find the time to eat everything it wants so it never goes beyond 8 hours. The Chimpanzee, despite being the monkey most similar to man, allows itself a little more hours of sleep, about 10.
How Much Do Animals Sleep: Curiosities
Let’s start by naming the sleepiest and most “insomniac” animals.
The Giraffe rests very little during the day or even does not sleep for weeks and weeks, maybe takes a few naps of a couple of hours putting themselves in strange positions like only the giraffe with its long neck.
At the opposite end of the animal kingdom as far as sleep is concerned is the brown bat, a small bat widespread in North America that can sleep almost 20 hours a day, over 80% of its day. The remaining time is spent mainly eating, otherwise it could not survive.
Now that we have met the two sleeping champions, let’s see some other curiosities.
For example, migratory birds have a sleep cycle that follows the change of seasons and when they move they can afford fewer hours of rest, as you can imagine. You will have often heard the saying ” sleep standing up like a horse”. It’s true, this animal together with zebras and elephants, can rest standing up but only for three hours. Uncomfortable? Maybe a little but in this way they are sure to be able to escape promptly in case of enemy attack. Depending on age, habits sometimes change, they do so clearly in dolphins that never sleep when they are small, and mammals, that in general, with a few exceptions, sleep a lot. Extremely curious and tender is the way sea otters rest, they clasp their legs while remaining attached to each other while they sleep. More than romanticism, it is a strategy to prevent the current from separating them.
How Animals Sleep Standing Up
If you can’t understand it, let’s try to understand together why some species have “chosen” to sleep standing up. We have mentioned three but there are many more! For example, there are cows and buffalo and also moose, rhinoceroses and bison. It is not really sleeping, it is taking a nap. They really sleep lying down.
Standing sleep is a slow wave sleep, not as deep as REM, but restful. Not everyone can afford it because it is necessary to be able to maintain balance. For this reason, animals with this habit have what is called a reciprocity apparatus, therefore tendons and ligaments that keep the animal standing even without making great muscular efforts. Buffalo sleep standing up and also in a constant state of alert because they have to watch over the herd in turns, when they are sentinels and responsible for the safety of their fellows. Moose, on the other hand, snore while they snooze standing up, and gradually each one has its own particularity that makes it similar or different to us.