Nearly all animals have adapted to sleep or some other form of rest when being awake would be unsafe. This can be seen in many animals species, ranging from the smallest of rodents all the way up to the kings of the jungle, lions. When comparing these animals it is clear that each has a very diverse sleep schedule. Rabbits and other rodents, who have many natural predators, sleep very lightly for only short periods of time. Whereas lions, who have few to no natural predators sleep long hours in the open during the day (Cherry, 2017). This theory can also be seen in humans. Our early ancestors lacked night vision and natural weapons so they may have evolved sleep as a way to escape larger night time predators (Hock, 2015). A counter argument to this theory is that many people believe being awake and conscious would allow for a much greater survival rate than being asleep. Incase of an emergency, being awake would give animals a much longer time to react than if they were asleep (Why Do We Sleep, Anyway?,
Nearly all animals have adapted to sleep or some other form of rest when being awake would be unsafe. This can be seen in many animals species, ranging from the smallest of rodents all the way up to the kings of the jungle, lions. When comparing these animals it is clear that each has a very diverse sleep schedule. Rabbits and other rodents, who have many natural predators, sleep very lightly for only short periods of time. Whereas lions, who have few to no natural predators sleep long hours in the open during the day (Cherry, 2017). This theory can also be seen in humans. Our early ancestors lacked night vision and natural weapons so they may have evolved sleep as a way to escape larger night time predators (Hock, 2015). A counter argument to this theory is that many people believe being awake and conscious would allow for a much greater survival rate than being asleep. Incase of an emergency, being awake would give animals a much longer time to react than if they were asleep (Why Do We Sleep, Anyway?,