Extreme Sleep Behavior of Antarctic Penguins
2023-12-05
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1Almost all new parents struggle to get enough sleep while caring for their newborns.
2For some penguin parents, though, periods of sleep are especially short.
3Penguins are birds that cannot fly but use their wings for swimming.
4They live in or near the Antarctic.
5Researchers recently found that Chinstrap penguins only sleep for about four seconds at a time in order to protect their eggs and newborn chicks.
6They do this thousands of times throughout the day.
7A study on the findings recently appeared in the publication Science.
8The short "microsleeps" total around 11 hours each day.
9The microsleeps appear to be enough to keep the parents going for many weeks.
10Niels Rattenborg is a sleep researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Germany.
11He helped write the new study.
12He said these penguins blink "... their eyes open and shut, and they do it 24/7 for several weeks at a time."
13"What's surprising is that they're able to function okay and successfully raise their young," he said.
14Chinstrap penguins usually lay their eggs in November in nests made up of small rocks.
15As with many other kinds of penguins, mated pairs share parenting responsibilities.
16One parent usually watches the eggs and chicks alone while the other goes off fishing for family meals.
17Adult penguins do not face many natural predators in the mating season.
18But large birds called brown skuas eat the penguin eggs and small chicks.
19Other adult penguins may also try to steal the small rocks from nests.
20So, penguin parents must always be on guard.
21For the first time, scientists followed the sleeping behavior of Chinstrap penguins in an Antarctic mating colony.
22They did this by attaching devices that measure brain waves.
23They collected data on 14 adults over 11 days on King George Island off the coast of Antarctica.
24Won Young Lee is a biologist at the Korean Polar Research Institute.
25He thought of the idea for the study when he saw mating penguins often blinking their eyes and possibly sleeping during his long days of field observations.
26But the team needed to record brain waves to confirm the animals were sleeping.
27"For these penguins, microsleeps have some restorative functions," he said.
28He added that they would not survive without it.
29The researchers did not collect sleep data outside the mating season.
30But they suspect that the penguins may sleep for longer periods at other times of the year.
31Paul-Antoine Libourel is a sleep researcher at the Neuroscience Research Center of Lyon in France.
32He also helped write the study.
33He said scientists do not yet know if the gains from microsleep are the same as gains from longer periods of time.
34Scientists also do not know if other kinds of penguins sleep in such short periods.
35Researchers have documented a few other animals with special sleeping adaptations.
36For example, frigatebirds can sleep with one half of their brain at a time while flying.
37But researchers say the Chinstrap penguin microsleeps appear to be a new extreme.
38Daniel Paranhos Zitterbart studies penguins at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
39He was not involved in the study.
40He noted that penguins mate in crowded colonies and their predators are around at the same time.
41He described microsleeping as "an amazing adaptation" that permits the penguins to be nearly always on guard.
42I'm Gregory Stachel.
1Almost all new parents struggle to get enough sleep while caring for their newborns. For some penguin parents, though, periods of sleep are especially short. 2Penguins are birds that cannot fly but use their wings for swimming. They live in or near the Antarctic. 3Researchers recently found that Chinstrap penguins only sleep for about four seconds at a time in order to protect their eggs and newborn chicks. They do this thousands of times throughout the day. 4A study on the findings recently appeared in the publication Science. 5The short "microsleeps" total around 11 hours each day. The microsleeps appear to be enough to keep the parents going for many weeks. 6Niels Rattenborg is a sleep researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Germany. He helped write the new study. He said these penguins blink "... their eyes open and shut, and they do it 24/7 for several weeks at a time." 7"What's surprising is that they're able to function okay and successfully raise their young," he said. 8Chinstrap penguins usually lay their eggs in November in nests made up of small rocks. As with many other kinds of penguins, mated pairs share parenting responsibilities. One parent usually watches the eggs and chicks alone while the other goes off fishing for family meals. 9Adult penguins do not face many natural predators in the mating season. But large birds called brown skuas eat the penguin eggs and small chicks. Other adult penguins may also try to steal the small rocks from nests. So, penguin parents must always be on guard. 10For the first time, scientists followed the sleeping behavior of Chinstrap penguins in an Antarctic mating colony. They did this by attaching devices that measure brain waves. They collected data on 14 adults over 11 days on King George Island off the coast of Antarctica. 11Won Young Lee is a biologist at the Korean Polar Research Institute. He thought of the idea for the study when he saw mating penguins often blinking their eyes and possibly sleeping during his long days of field observations. But the team needed to record brain waves to confirm the animals were sleeping. 12"For these penguins, microsleeps have some restorative functions," he said. He added that they would not survive without it. 13The researchers did not collect sleep data outside the mating season. But they suspect that the penguins may sleep for longer periods at other times of the year. 14Paul-Antoine Libourel is a sleep researcher at the Neuroscience Research Center of Lyon in France. He also helped write the study. He said scientists do not yet know if the gains from microsleep are the same as gains from longer periods of time. Scientists also do not know if other kinds of penguins sleep in such short periods. 15Researchers have documented a few other animals with special sleeping adaptations. For example, frigatebirds can sleep with one half of their brain at a time while flying. 16But researchers say the Chinstrap penguin microsleeps appear to be a new extreme. 17Daniel Paranhos Zitterbart studies penguins at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. He was not involved in the study. He noted that penguins mate in crowded colonies and their predators are around at the same time. He described microsleeping as "an amazing adaptation" that permits the penguins to be nearly always on guard. 18I'm Gregory Stachel. 19Christina Larson reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 20_______________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22blink - v. to close and then open your eyes very quickly 23shut - v. to close (something) 24nest - n. the place where a bird lays its eggs and takes care of its young 25predator - n. an animal that lives by killing and eating other animals: an animal that preys on other animals 26restore - adj. large in amount, size, or number 27adaptation - adj. having the ability to make a person feel strong or healthy again 28amazing - adj. causing great surprise or wonder