Top 10 Sleepiest Mammals Around The Globe
By Smashing Lists, 10 May 2012.
Had enough sleep lately? No? Well you are ruined if you still remember that grandpa’s tongue-in-cheek proverb “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy and wise.” It should have read “Early to bed and early to rise makes an animal healthy and wise.” We are no longer in hold of this saying, it’s old school now. What we need is some manly push and advice. Biological system that this world exhibits is very complicated, dirty and lazy as you shall see from the examples below.
10. Southern Owl Monkey
They go by the name of Aotus azarae, which means “not having any ears to listen with,” because they have tiny ears that are hidden in the thick fur they have on the skin. They look like a cotton stuffed teddy bear kept next to a bulky pillow. Southern owl monkey lives in South America and Argentina where they are commonly known by the name of “night monkeys” by the local public. They have big eyes with no colour vision which enable them to hunt at night; in fact it’s a biological night vision camera. This animal is usually active at night; it sleeps throughout the day for a total of 17 hours.
9. Nine Banded Armadillo
This four feet armadillo has the ability to jump 3 feet in the air, execute a flip-flop and then land on the ground. You can find one on long highways between two sides of a dry ground, so these species are a danger to people driving at high speeds. They are native to North, Central and South America and have an ancestral craving for insects and small animals. This mammal also sleeps for 17 hours a day.
8. Koala
This is a pretty looking, soft, fluffy and instant loving species found in Australia. “It’s a pre-cooked meal with a lot of sugar in it”. Koalas are tree climbers and spend their entire life in trees. They feed on leaves, fruits and sometimes tree ants. The word koala means someone who doesn’t drink at all, which is seen in these species. They rarely drink; all the moisture they need is provided by the leaves and tree surfaces. This tree-dwelling dude sleeps for 18 hours a day.
7. Giant Armadillo
“This is Priodontes maximus and I am here to sleep throughout the day and will hunt baby ants at night when humanity is silent and the prey helpless”.
Yes indeed, this merciless armadillo IS big enough to look frightening to the weary eye. It is found in South America. They love to dig in their past time to escape from predators. Giant armadillos are nocturnal and are often seen eating termites, ants, even snakes if they can manage. Since their metabolism is slow, they prefer to sleep for 18 hours straight and a tad more in one day.
[More information: 1. Giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), 2. Giant Armadillo.]
6. Water Opossum
This mammal is found in fresh water lakes and on land in Mexico, Central and South America. When the sun is about to set, this mammal becomes active and starts to hunt for the night. It feasts on fish, dragon flies, water beetles and anything that lives near the water bank. Mexicans call it by the name of “yapok” which originated from the Oyapok River in French Guyana. Since the water opossum hunts at night, it rests during the day in burrows made of sand for a total of 19.1 hours.
[More information: 1. Water opossum (Chironectes minimus), 2. Chironectes minimus, 3. Water opossum.]
5. Opossum
This one is just like its aquatic cousin in its hunting methods and looks, but prefers to hug the trees and stays on land most of the time. Their bodies usually are a blend of grey and white fur with bright white faces to complete the circle. They feed on anything that’s dead, leftovers, rodents, apples, pet food and your day-to-day kitchen leftovers. Since their diet is very flexible, they are able to adapt almost anywhere which makes them appear everywhere. They prefer to live where there is plenty of food. Once such mammal was found in an old neglected piano in a house, in other words they fit almost anywhere. In Mexico their tails are eaten to improve fertility (What!). Opossums sleep for 19.4 hours a day.
[More information: 1. Opossum (Didelphia virginiana), 2. Opossum.] [The National Opossum Society]
4. Big Brown Bat
We all know how bats look like - they symbolize a fierce look, they bring in the fear of the dead and lust for blood - but this big brown bat is brown and much bigger than the bats we see in pictures and TV. The insides of their ears and wings are black, making they look like as if they were modified to be stealthy in nature. As with all bats, they live in caves, old window corners, attics and places where humanity doesn’t seem to tread most often. They sleep for 19.6 hours a day.
[More information: 1. Big Brown Bat Fact Sheet, 2. Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus), 3. Big brown bat.]
3. Little Brown Bat aka The Little Brown Myotis
This is the big browns bat’s little cousin, which have been used as ideal example for studying and experimenting on the bigger ones because these small brown bats are very easy to find as they live in houses and old places. They feed on insects and moths and sometimes worms. During winter, they are known to sleep in groups for warmth and they sleep for 19.9 hours a day because their bodies are smaller and they need to conserve energy and hunt at night when insects and moths are an easy catch.
[More information: 1. The many, many mouse-eared bats, aka little brown bats, aka Myotis bats, 2. Little brown bat, 3. Myotis lucifugus.]
2. Three-Toed Sloth
Anyone who knows the “nature’s abundant stationary inhabitants” any better than this - the three-toed sloth, a mammal designed to never leave the tree. You might be standing under a ten foot tall tree for six hours and you won’t be able to spot one, it is that slow and the babies are attached to their mother bellies for nine months, i.e. they do not leave when nine months are over. They chew on leaves and fruits and defecate once a week and rarely climb down a tree. They have been found sleeping for a total of 20 hours! Beat that.
[More information: 1. Facts About the Three Toed Sloth, 2. Three-toed sloth, 3. Three-Toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus).]
1. Lion
The winner on our list, this mammal is known to us all, it is bigger than a tiger and weight over 250 kilograms. It is ferocious, bloody and not to be played with. It eats for 50 minutes and sleeps for 20 hours a day, only waking up at times to defecate. They force the lioness to go for a hunt and when a good catch is certain they are ready to eat. In the Serengeti these beasts can be seen lying around while the females do the hard work. Their use comes during hard-hitting confrontations and when their territory is occupied, and that my friend is one hell of an entertainment to pay for.
[More information: 1. Facts about Lions, 2. Lion, 3. The African Lion Facts, 4. Top 10 Strange Lion Facts.]
Top image: Sleepy Koala Bear (left) and Big Brown Bat - Photo/Copyright: J. Scott Altenbach (right)
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