Howwouldyouliketosleepwithonehalfyourbrainasleepandtheotherhalfawake?Dolphinssleepthisway.RecentlyscientistsatIndianaStateUniversityhavediscoveredthatduckssleepthiswaytoo.Theyfoundthatduckssleephalfaw
Howwouldyouliketosleepwithonehalfyourbrainasleepandtheotherhalfawake?Dolphinssleepthisway.RecentlyscientistsatIndianaStateUniversityhavediscoveredthatduckssleepthiswaytoo.Theyfoundthatduckssleephalfawakesotheycanrestandwatchfordangeratthesametime.
Afterputtingtheirducksinarowandvideotapingthemsomeresearchersfoundducksontheendofeachrowspentmoretimeasleepwithoneeyeopenapparentlylookingforpredators.
“Themoretheducksfeltthreatenedthemoretheysleptwithoneeyeopen”saidleadauthorNielsC.RattenborgagraduatestudentatIndianaStateUniversityTerreHaute.”theuniqueaspectisnotthattheydoitbutthattheycontrolit.Whentheysleepattheedgeofagrouptheytendtorealizegreaterdangersotheyspendmoretimesleepingwithonehalfoftheirbrain.”DuckswithoneeyeopenwerestillawakeenoughtodetectpredatorssaidtheauthorsofthestudywhichappearstodayintheJournalNature.
Theresearchersstudiedfourgroupsoffourducksheldinplasticboxeswhichwerearrangedinarow.Ducksontheendwerefoundtosleepwithoneeyeopen31.8percentofthetimecomparedto12.4percentofthetimeforducksinthecentralposition.
Alsoducksinthecentralpositiondidnotopenoneeyemorethantheotherswhileducksoneachendkepttheeyefacingawayfromthegroupopen86.2percentofthetime.Brainwavereadingsoftheducksshowedthatthehalfofthebrainreceivingsignalsfromtheclosedeyeindicatedthathalfofthebrainwassleeping.Signalsfromthehalfofthebrainreceivingsignalsfromtheopeneyeshowedastatebetweenfullyawakeandasleep.
1.Apredatorismostlikelytobe .
A.ascientistwhodoesresearchworkonanimals
B.ahumanbeingwholooksafterandfeedsducks
C.ananimalthathuntskillsandeatsotheranimals
D.ananimalthatislikelytobefriendswithducks
2.Ducksattheendofeachrowsleepwithoneeyeopenbecause .
A.theyarelookingforfood
B.theywanttoenjoythescenery
C.theyarewatchingoutfordanger
D.theyareuniqueintheirsleepinghabit
3.Howmanyduckswereusedintheexperiment?
A.Four. B.Eight.