Every species sleeps! Cats sleep in one session for 20-30 minutes, koalas sleep up to 22 hours a day … And sharks? In fact, there is relatively little information about the sleep of these animals. Researchers recently noticed the rest of the baby sharks, a type of small shark.
Understanding how sharks sleep can aid our understanding of sleep. These animals are the oldest jawed vertebrates, a group of vertebrates of which we are part. Scientists hope, by studying the shark, to learn about the role of sleep and the forms it took during evolution.
Researchers from New Zealand and Australia they studied A small species of shark, Checkerboard Holbiches, to determine resting habits. According to their study, these sharks seem to sleep yes, but they sleep with their eyes open!
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Scientists measured the metabolic rate (all the reactions that occur in the body) of individuals of this species, over a 24-hour period. They also note other features that may indicate sleep, such as posture or closing the eyes. This allowed them to show that Holbiches sleep is characterized by a somewhat flat posture, and a slower metabolic rate. On the other hand, the fact that sharks close or open their eyes does not predict whether they are sleeping.
The role of sleep in conserving energy may seem obvious. However, if everyone agrees with this beneficial effect of sleep, it is not I’m not sure It is the cause of sleep during development. According to the researchers, their findings confirm the role of sleep as a means to conserve energy for these sharks. This argues in favor of the emergence of this role very early in vertebrate evolution. However, these findings must be confirmed in other shark species.
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