Weird & Strange

“Mini siestas” are common in this species of penguin.

In Antarctica, the chinstrap penguin (or Pygoscelis antarcticus) has broken all records; it falls asleep more than 10,000 times a day, for a few seconds (barely 5); a behavior recognized particulrly in the avian world.

According to French and Korean researchers, these micronaps follow a precise logic: “remaining vigilant against possible threats, including predators,” reports the Agence Science-Presse. This is a behavior that is all the more understandable since it was observed during a period when penguins were incubating their eggs. While they “stick” to each other during incubation, they run the risk of being attacked by a “neighbor.” Another predator they must be wary of? “The Antarctic skua (Stercorarius antarcticus), is a bird that targets eggs or chicks,” indicates the Agence Science-Presse.

In 2019, French neurologist Paul-Antoine Libourel and a colleague equipped 14 penguins with sensors and measured their brain activity for 11 days. They were therefore able to observe this phenomenon of micronaps, defined by periods of sleep of 3.91 seconds on average, spread across all hours of the day. This study also indicates that “sleep, although widespread among all animals, can take several forms, and that these forms are still poorly understood.” The knowledge that experts have is generally limited to mice and fruit flies and species studied in the laboratory.

In total, no less than 11 hours of sleep are recorded for these penguins!

(AsD - Source: Agence Science-Presse - Illustration: Unsplash)