The early bird may get the worm, but the sleepless sandpiper gets the chicks.
Male pectoral sandpipers that sleep less than their counterparts during the bird's intense three-week breeding season mate with more females and sire more offspring — and don't appear to be impaired whatsoever by their sleeplessness, according to a study published today (Aug. 9) in the journal Science.
These results are surprising since humans and many other animals handle sleep loss poorly, with decreases in memory, attention and hand-eye coordination, said study co-author John Lesku, a researcher at the University of Western Australia.
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