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Male dasyurs only rest about 8% of the time, while females rest three times as long.
ANIMALS – Breed until they die. Critically endangered male dasyurs in Australia appear to sacrifice sleep for sex. Behavior that could account for her early death, according to new research published this Wednesday, February 1, in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
“They travel great distances to mate as often as possible, and it seems that this drive is so strong that they give up sleep to spend more time looking for females,” says Christofer Clemente, Sr Lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast led the study with the University of Queensland.
The researchers collected data for 42 days after fitting ‘backpacks’ to male and female dasyurs living in the wild on Groote Eylandt, an island off the coast of Australia’s Northern Territory. And by tracking the activity of these small marsupials, they discovered that a lack of rest during the breeding season could be contributing to the mass disappearance of males year after year. Some of the dasyurs studied traveled more than 10 kilometers in one night, which the study says equates to a distance of nearly 40 kilometers when scaled to a human.
The males of the species also seem to attract more parasites. The most likely reason is that they spend less time grooming so they can make the most of each breeding season. In addition, according to the researchers, males are not as vigilant as females when searching for food or avoiding predators because they only have one thing on their mind: sex.
Examine the effects of lack of sleep on the body
Male Dasyurs only end up resting about 8% of the day, while females spend three times as much time (24%) resting. Researchers still can’t say for sure if sleep deprivation is responsible for the disparity in life expectancy between men and women, but they believe it helps explain the gradual deterioration and eventual death of men.
“Long-term sleep deprivation and associated symptoms would make recovery impossible and could explain the causes of death found in males after the breeding season,” explains Joshua Gaschk, first author of the study. They become easy prey, cannot avoid collisions with vehicles, or simply die of exhaustion. »
“When male dasyurs sacrifice sleep at the expense of survival, they become an excellent model species for the effects of sleep deprivation on bodily functions,” he adds.
This study of dasyurs is part of a larger research into the behavior of these marsupials and their interactions with their predators. Its purpose is to plan the conservation management of this endangered species.
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