Scientists based in Australia have found that mouse-sized male antechinus trade sleep to leave more time for reproductive activities during mating season, with one male who was monitored halving his sleep time during that period. Non-breeding dusky antechinus spend an average of 15.3 hours of the day asleep, according to the researchers. “Sleep restriction in breeding male antechinus is likely to be an adaptive behavioral response driven by strong sexual selection,” the paper said. To study the semelparous marsupials, researchers examined two antechinus species: dusky antechinus (Antechinus swainsonii) and wild agile antechinus (Antechinus agilis) both captive and wild. Lesku said researchers would next like to examine how male antechinus deal with restricting their sleep for three weeks.

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Persons: ” Erika Zaid, ”, Erika Zaid, Francesca Leonard, Zaid, John Lesku, antechinus, ” Lesku, Erika Zaid “, Volker Sommer, ” Sommer, Lesku Organizations: CNN, La Trobe University, “, University College London Locations: Australia, Melbourne