The Weird World of Sleep In The Animal Kingdom

Do animals sleep like humans do? While many animals we know and love, such as dogs, do sleep in a way we can relate to, many other animals have completely different sleeping patterns. Scientists aren’t even aware of how every single animal sleeps!

Let’s explore some fun and interesting ways in which creatures sleep in the animal kingdom!

Animals That Sleep The Most

As humans, we need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep when we’re adults. That seems like a big chunk of the day!

But did you know that adult humans are far from the biggest sleepers in the animal kingdom? The animal that sleeps the most is the Koala, which spends up to 20-22 hours out of every 24 hours asleep.

Sloths are the runner-up in this category, which may not surprise a lot of people. Most Sloths sleep up to 20 hours a day.

Surprisingly, humans do show up in the top ten sleepers, but only as infants. A newborn human needs as much as 17 hours of sleep every 24 hours.

Other big sleepers in the animal kingdom include:

• Brown bats: 19.9 hours
• Giant armadillo: 18.1 hours
• Pythons and opossums: tied at 18 hours
• Owl monkeys: 17 hours
• Tigers: 15.8 hours
• Tree shrews: 15.8 hours

Animals That Sleep Standing Up

While you may like to get comfy in your bed, not all animals lie down to sleep. Many animals remain standing while they snooze!

Animals that sleep standing up usually have developed one of the following evolutionary traits:

• Flexor tendons: these tendons extend down the back of the legs, usually in birds. It tightens up automatically when they perch and only relaxes when the bird extends its legs.
• The stay apparatus: some large herbivores have a series of muscles, tendons, and ligaments called the stay apparatus. These body parts lock the joints in place so that the herbivore can relax and fall asleep.
• Manipulating gravity: What about birds that don’t have flexor tendons or a stay apparatus? If you’ve ever seen a bird sleep on a single leg, you’ve seen gravity manipulation. They place their leg directly underneath their center of gravity to pressure lock their joints into place.

Animals that sleep standing up include (but aren’t limited) to:

• Flamingos
• Horses
• Giraffes
• Crows
• Elephants
• Storks
• Songbirds
• Gazelles
• Deer
• Geese

Animals That Sleep With Their Eyes Open

The animal kingdom is full of dangers for its inhabitants. That’s why many animals sleep with one or both eyes open.

When this happens, half of their brain falls asleep while the other half stays awake. This allows animals to remain alert in case of danger.

Many marine mammals such as beluga whales and bottlenose dolphins sleep with their eyes open. But some species of birds, such as blackbirds and penguins, also keep their eyes open while they sleep.

Many species of snakes and fish also sleep with their eyes open, but that’s because they have no eyelids!

Unlike animals, we humans sleep better when we’re allowed to completely relax. If you’re struggling to settle down and fall asleep, try the BetterSleep app for free tonight.