University of Auckland
New Zealand and Australian researchers studied seven draughtsboard sharks from the Hauraki Gulf, off Auckland, New Zealand to explore how and why the animals sleep.
The sharks could sleep with their eyes open and, in common with other animals, sleep was associated with lying flat and a lowered metabolic rate, they wrote in the journal Biology Letters.The draughtsboard shark – sometimes called the "carpet shark" – can stay stationary, resting on the sea floor, unlike sharks which must swim constantly to stay alive.
As in humans, sleep is a method for conserving energy, it seems. The study was the first physiological evidence of sleep in sharks.
/Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.
