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Zaid E, Rainsford FW, Johnsson RD, Valcu M, Vyssotski AL, Meerlo P, Lesku JA. Semelparous marsupials reduce sleep for sex. Curr Biol 2024; 34:606-614.e3. [PMID: 38278151 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.12.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
Sleep is a prominent, seemingly universal animal behavior. Although sleep maintains optimal waking performance, the biological drive to sleep may be incompatible with the life history of some species. In a multi-year study on semelparous marsupials in Australia, we provide the first direct evidence of ecological sleep restriction in a terrestrial mammal. Dusky (Antechinus swainsonii) and agile (A. agilis) antechinus have an unusual reproductive strategy characterized by the synchronous death of all males at the end of their only breeding season. Using accelerometry, electrophysiology, and metabolomics, we show that males, but not females, increase their activity during the breeding season by reducing sleep. In a trade-off between the neurophysiological requirements for sleep and evolutionary necessity for reproduction, strong sexual selection might drive males to sacrifice sleep to increase access to fertile females and ultimately maximize their fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erika Zaid
- School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia.
| | - Frederick W Rainsford
- School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia
| | - Robin D Johnsson
- School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia; Department of Psychology, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17603, USA
| | - Mihai Valcu
- Department of Ornithology, Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Alexei L Vyssotski
- Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Peter Meerlo
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, the Netherlands
| | - John A Lesku
- School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia.
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Rayan A, Agarwal A, Samanta A, Severijnen E, van der Meij J, Genzel L. Sleep scoring in rodents: Criteria, automatic approaches and outstanding issues. Eur J Neurosci 2024; 59:526-553. [PMID: 36479908 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
There is nothing we spend as much time on in our lives as we do sleeping, which makes it even more surprising that we currently do not know why we need to sleep. Most of the research addressing this question is performed in rodents to allow for invasive, mechanistic approaches. However, in contrast to human sleep, we currently do not have shared and agreed upon standards on sleep states in rodents. In this article, we present an overview on sleep stages in humans and rodents and a historical perspective on the development of automatic sleep scoring systems in rodents. Further, we highlight specific issues in rodent sleep that also call into question some of the standards used in human sleep research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdelrahman Rayan
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Anjali Agarwal
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Anumita Samanta
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Eva Severijnen
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Jacqueline van der Meij
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Lisa Genzel
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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Olejarz A, Faltusová M, Börger L, Güldenpfennig J, Jarský V, Ježek M, Mortlock E, Silovský V, Podgórski T. Worse sleep and increased energy expenditure yet no movement changes in sub-urban wild boar experiencing an influx of human visitors (anthropulse) during the COVID-19 pandemic. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 879:163106. [PMID: 36966827 PMCID: PMC10038670 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Expansion of urban areas, landscape transformation and increasing human outdoor activities strongly affect wildlife behaviour. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in particular led to drastic changes in human behaviour, exposing wildlife around the world to either reduced or increased human presence, potentially altering animal behaviour. Here, we investigate behavioural responses of wild boar (Sus scrofa) to changing numbers of human visitors to a suburban forest near Prague, Czech Republic, during the first 2.5 years of the COVID-19 epidemic (April 2019-November 2021). We used bio-logging and movement data of 63 GPS-collared wild boar and human visitation data based on an automatic counter installed in the field. We hypothesised that higher levels of human leisure activity will have a disturbing effect on wild boar behaviour manifested in increased movements and ranging, energy spent, and disrupted sleep patterns. Interestingly, whilst the number of people visiting the forest varied by two orders of magnitude (from 36 to 3431 people weekly), even high levels of human presence (>2000 visitors per week) did not affect weekly distance travelled, home range size, and maximum displacement of wild boar. Instead, individuals spent 41 % more energy at high levels of human presence (>2000 visitors per week), with more erratic sleep patterns, characterised by shorter and more frequent sleeping bouts. Our results highlight multifaceted effects of increased human activities ('anthropulses'), such as those related to COVID-19 countermeasures, on animal behaviour. High human pressure may not affect animal movements or habitat use, especially in highly adaptable species such as wild boar, but may disrupt animal activity rhythms, with potentially detrimental fitness consequences. Such subtle behavioural responses can be overlooked if using only standard tracking technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Astrid Olejarz
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences,Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6-Suchdol, 165 00, Czech Republic.
| | - Monika Faltusová
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences,Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6-Suchdol, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Luca Börger
- Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, Wales, UK
| | - Justine Güldenpfennig
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences,Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6-Suchdol, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Vilém Jarský
- Department of Forestry and Wood Economics, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6-Suchdol, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Miloš Ježek
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences,Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6-Suchdol, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Euan Mortlock
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, 19 Chlorine Gardens, Belfast BT95DL, Northern Ireland, UK
| | - Václav Silovský
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences,Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6-Suchdol, 165 00, Czech Republic
| | - Tomasz Podgórski
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences,Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, Prague 6-Suchdol, 165 00, Czech Republic; Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Stoczek 1, 17-230 Białowieża, Poland
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