Wild about sleep

For humans, drifting off into the land of nod means lying down and hopefully enjoying a few hours of restorative rest while consciousness is suspended. In the animal world, it’s not quite that simple

You might be familiar with the phrase ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’, but it’s cats that are some of the laziest creatures in the animal kingdom. According to the Sleep Foundation, domestic cats sleep for around 12-18 hours a day in a polyphasic sleep pattern, meaning they sleep for multiple blocks of time, rather than one longer period. It’s these habits that inspired the word ‘catnap’ to describe a brief, light sleep. Wild cats such as lions and pumas follow a similar pattern, known as crepuscular, snoozing for much of their lives and experiencing two periods of higher energy each day – at dawn and dusk.

Researchers believe that prey animals such as cats have evolved this way to hunt more effectively – and they’re not the only creatures whose sleep varies hugely from that experienced by human beings. It’s universal that sleep is necessary for survival, but throughout nature, different sleep patterns have evolved. Dolphins and whales, for instance, sleep with only half of their brain at any one time, and migratory birds have the same ability. So, the next time you find yourself fretting over a poor night’s sleep, think of the giraffe – a mammal that can go for many days without any shut-eye. Here are some of nature’s most fascinating sleepers.