 Anyone who knows me knows I hate the idea of sleep…that fact that we are dependent on it, we revolve our lives around it; we have a whole room dedicate to it. Eight hours a day seems like a large part of life spent sleeping. That time could be much better spent and with all of our technological advances you'd think they would have found a cure. Sleep seems so archaic!
Anyway that said I came across this interesting chart and found out humans sleep a lot less than other animals and apparently when I am old I will sleep even less which is something to look forward to I guess. Of course I probably won’t have a day job by then so whatever.
It did make me wonder what giraffes and horses so with all of their spare time…
How Much Do Animals Sleep?
|
Most animals have a daily pattern of rest and activity. Some animals are more active during the day (diurnal) and some are more active during the night (nocturnal). How much time do animals spend sleeping? Well, it depends on the animal:
Species
|
Average Total Sleep Time
(% of 24 hr) |
Average Total Sleep Time
(Hours/day) |
Brown Bat
|
82.9%
|
19.9 hr
|
Giant Armadillo
|
75.4%
|
18.1 hr
|
North American Opossum
|
75%
|
18 hr
|
Python
|
75%
|
18 hr
|
Owl Monkey
|
70.8%
|
17.0 hr
|
Human (infant)
|
66.7%
|
16 hr
|
Tiger
|
65.8%
|
15.8 hr
|
Tree shrew
|
65.8%
|
15.8 hr
|
Squirrel
|
62%
|
14.9 hr
|
Western Toad
|
60.8%
|
14.6 hr
|
Ferret
|
60.4%
|
14.5 hr
|
Three-toed Sloth
|
60%
|
14.4 hr
|
Golden Hamster
|
59.6%
|
14.3 hr
|
Platypus
|
58.3%
|
14.0 hr
|
Lion
|
56.3%
|
13.5 hr
|
Gerbil
|
54.4%
|
13.1 hr
|
Rat
|
52.4%
|
12.6 hr
|
Cat
|
50.6%
|
12.1 hr
|
Cheetah
|
50.6%
|
12.1 hr
|
Mouse
|
50.3%
|
12.1 hr
|
Rhesus Monkey
|
49.2%
|
11.8 hr
|
Rabbit
|
47.5%
|
11.4 hr
|
Jaguar
|
45%
|
10.8 hr
|
Duck
|
45%
|
10.8 hr
|
Dog
|
44.3%
|
10.6 hr
|
Bottle-nosed dolphin
|
43.3%
|
10.4 hr
|
Star-nosed Mole
|
42.9%
|
10.3 hr
|
Baboon
|
42.9%
|
10.3 hr
|
European Hedgehog
|
42.2%
|
10.1 hr
|
Squirrel Monkey
|
41.3%
|
9.9 hr
|
Chimpanzee
|
40.4%
|
9.7 hr
|
Guinea Pig
|
39.2%
|
9.4 hr
|
Human (adult)
|
33.3%
|
8 hr
|
Pig
|
32.6%
|
7.8 hr
|
Guppy (fish)
|
29.1%
|
7 hr
|
Gray Seal
|
25.8%
|
6.2 hr
|
Human (elderly)
|
22.9%
|
5.5 hr
|
Goat
|
22.1%
|
5.3 hr
|
Cow
|
16.4%
|
3.9 hr
|
Asiatic Elephant
|
16.4%
|
3.9 hr
|
Sheep
|
16%
|
3.8 hr
|
African Elephant
|
13.8%
|
3.3 hr
|
Donkey
|
13.0%
|
3.1 hr
|
Horse
|
12.0%
|
2.9 hr
|
Giraffe
|
7.9%
|
1.9 hr
|
