Crocodiles found to sleep with 1 eye open
Print Edition
SALTWATER crocodiles can rest with one eye open to watch for threats, Australian scientists said yesterday, with further research likely to show that half of the mammal’s brain could be conscious even while asleep.
The scientists found that crocodiles — like birds, their closest living relatives — engaged in “unilateral eye closure” during hostile situations.
“Birds like to sleep like humans, with both eyes closed, but when they feel threatened they’ll have one eye open and they’ll orientate that eye towards the threat,” said lead author Michael Kelly of La Trobe University.
When they’re resting, crocodiles will have both eyes closed, “but when we present them with a threat, they would open one eye and keep that eye orientated towards the threat,” he said.
The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, was conducted using three young saltwater crocodiles placed in separate tanks and observed individually over 12 months.
Further research is needed to monitor crocodiles’ brain waves to see if the creatures also sleep with half of their brain shut down — called “uni-hemispheric sleep,” Kelly said.
Saltwater crocodiles, which can grow up to 7 meters long and weigh more than a ton, are mostly found in northern Australia. They are also native to India, Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and some other Pacific islands.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
