In a bright eyed episode of The Atlantic series Animalism, science writer Ed Yong posits why humans and animals need sleep, offers theories addressing his supposition and explains via animation the rather varied sleep patterns that exist amongst different species within the animal kingdom.
Sleep is universal in the animal kingdom, but each species slumbers in a different — and often mysterious — way. Some animals snooze with half their brain, while others only sleep for two hours a day (without even suffering sleep deprivation!).
