In the 'wake' of wildlife: Animals that hardly sleep
What's the story
Animals, just like humans, need a particular amount of sleep daily. However, this doesn't stand true for all of them.
Hard as it may seem to believe at first glance, the world is home to some animals that hardly sleep and can thrive without snoozing!
Don't believe us? Well, let's comb through the animal kingdom and learn more about these perpetually insomniac beings.
Animal 1
Dolphins
The oh-so-adorable dolphins, especially the babies, are among the ones that hardly sleep.
It is known that newborn dolphins don't sleep at all for a month and even their mothers stay awake during this time for their safety.
Did you know that these friendly aquatic creatures can stay alert with just one of their eyes opened? Well, learn some interesting facts about dolphins.
Animal 2
Elephants
By looking at their size, one would think they need a lot of sleep daily. Well, that's not how it works for them.
Elephants only need as little as three hours of sleep throughout the day and they do it either by standing as they are, leaning against a tree, or sometimes even lying down on their sides!
Animal 3
Giraffes
Next on the list of animals that hardly sleep are giraffes, who only survive on quick naps throughout the day.
These naps last for about five minutes and when they can, they manage to squeeze out 30 minutes to snooze. Yes, just that!
This behavior is largely due to the threat of predators considering them a succulent meal, requiring giraffes to stay vigilant.
Animal 4
Alpine swifts
Alpine swifts are among the most interesting birds in the world and that's because of their unusual sleep routine.
According to researchers, when these birds fly to a high altitude, they start gliding and sleep for really short periods as they do so!
Spending most of their time in the air, they evade accidents as they are still alert when snoozing.
Animal 5
Bullfrogs
Bullfrogs are also quite strange when it comes to their sleep cycle.
Experts have noted that these species of frogs always stay alert and don't sleep throughout the day.
They enter a brief period of "brumation" each year in which they binge-sleep to compensate for the lost sleep all this while!
They do have short rest periods but they never sink into sleeping.