When we have been busy at work all day, the happiest thing is to come home and lie down in bed and sleep! In many people's minds, the sleeping position should be lying down, but do you know? Some animals in nature sleep standing up, such as horses, giraffes, elephants, cows, sheep, etc.! Why do these animals sleep standing up? Today, the editor will take one of the animals we are most familiar with—horses—as an example to briefly explain why some animals sleep standing up!
Careful friends will see such a scene in places with horses such as zoos or scenic spots. On a sunny afternoon, the horse is dozing: the horse stands upright, closes its eyes, and slightly Lower your head...
Why do horses sleep standing up?
Animals that sleep standing up, such as horses, giraffes, elephants, cows, sheep, etc., all have one thing in common - they are all large herbivores.
These larger herbivores, such as horses, have few places to hide in the wild, and herbivores must always be prepared to avoid attacks from predators. Therefore, before horses were domesticated, in order to survive in cruel After surviving in the natural environment, horses have evolved the habit of standing with their heads up and closing their eyes to sleep during the day, or sleeping with their heads on the backs of their companions.
Another reason why horses sleep standing up is that horses do not have horns like cows and sheep that can be used to attack enemies, so they have only one way to face predators, and that is to run away quickly.
Therefore, sleeping while the horse is standing has the functions of defending against enemies, facilitating escape, and ensuring safety. After humans domesticated horses, this habit was still retained in captive horses.
The fact that horses sleep standing up is also related to their body structure: Due to the long-term fear of being hunted by other animals, the horse's body is in a state of vigilance for a long time, resulting in corresponding changes in the horse's body structure; it is precisely because Horses have a special body structure, so even if they stand for a long time, the impact on them is not particularly great.
Can horses sleep lying down?
The answer is: yes! Like other mammals, horses will lie down and curl up for deep sleep only when they feel extremely safe. This happens most often at night, when it's dark and the temperature is low. This lying down sleep can last about 2 to 3 hours, sometimes even a few minutes, depending on the horse's environment.
According to the research of zoologists, horses are animals that enter sleep state quickly. When horses exercise vigorously, they will quickly enter sleep state as soon as their eyes are closed. A very interesting phenomenon is when a horse stands up and enters a semi-sleep state, the brain is partially aware, such as wagging its tail to repel mosquitoes and flies, and using its hind legs in turns to support the body. Therefore, horses can not only sleep standing up, but also lie down, which means that horses will choose different ways of resting in different living environments.
Final summary:
In the cruel nature, if animals want to survive, they must have their own way of survival! For example, some "weak animals" (rats, rabbits) without fangs and claws often choose the survival methods of "escape", "hide" and "reproduce offspring". Horses sleep standing up because "weak animals" choose "escape" as a way of survival! Therefore, many strange phenomena displayed by animals in nature actually have reasons.
Author ｜Li Xin
Source ｜Selected works submitted to the Second Zhengzhou Science Popularization Essay Contest
Statement ｜The views represent only the author's own and do not represent the position of this account
