Emily Chan
They recorded the penguins’ sleep activity, finding that they engaged in slow-wave sleep, which is the most common type of sleep among birds. That’s how they discovered the penguins took micronaps thousands of times per day.
While at sea, the penguins did rest on the water’s surface, but most of the time, they were actively hunting. Upon their return to the nest, they would catch up on rest for the first few hours through microsleeps.
It is believed that the penguins adapted to this peculiar sleep pattern so they could be on the constant lookout for predators and defend their nests from other penguins.
The scientists also found that penguins nesting on the borders of the colony had longer, deeper sleep than penguins in the middle.
That may be because penguins in the center are surrounded by more noise and disturbances, so their sleep is constantly interrupted.
Furthermore, those nesting at the border have to keep a sharp eye out for predators. Since they need to put more energy into staying awake and alert, their sleep is more intense.
Scientists are curious about the penguins’ sleep cycles after breeding. Do they sleep differently, or do they continue microsleeping for the rest of their lives?
It is also not yet known if microsleeps can benefit other species, but the study has raised questions about the importance of longer periods of sleep. It’s possible that some species may actually fare better with fragmented sleep.
But for humans, sleeping in short bursts is not recommended since our physiology is different from chinstrap penguins.
Plus, there is still a huge gap in our understanding of how sleep functions for us. Besides, a four-second nap does not seem at all appealing anyway.
