Humans evolved to sleep more efficiently
13 Jan 2016 by Evoluted New Media
Humans sleep more efficiently than our closest relatives, according to research by scientists.
Humans sleep more efficiently than our closest relatives, according to research by scientists.
Duke University researchers compiled a database of sleep patterns across hundreds of mammals. Humans were found to sleep on average seven hours a night, but other primates such as the southern pig-tailed macaques and grey mouse lemurs need as much as 14 to 17 hours.
David Samson, anthropologist at Duke, said: “Humans are unique in having shorter, higher quality sleep.”
Our sleep can also be stated as more efficient as almost 25% of our sleep is rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, a deeper state of slumber. In mouse and mongoose lemurs and African green monkey, REM sleep is usually around 5%.
A separate study of sleeping habits of people living in societies without electricity in Tanzania, Namibia and Bolivia found they slept less than people with electronic gadgets. This dispels theories put forward suggesting artificial light and modern life as being solely responsible for shortening our sleep.
This study by Samson and Charlie Nunn, suggest humans changed sleep quantity for sleep quality. The change to a shorter sleeping period is believed to have come from a transition in sleeping in trees to sleeping on the floor.
It is likely humans started sleeping near fires and in larger groups to keep warm and deter predators from attacking them.
The research appears in Evolutionary Anthropology
