Prof. Dr. Margaret Crofoot to speak at SEEM: The collective dynamics of sleeping in groups

Whether social or solitary, all animals sleep. From bees to humans, animals spend between 12% and 83% of their lives in a behavioral state characterized by reduced reactivity to environmental stimuli. Although the ultimate function of sleep remains hotly contested, its importance is universally recognized: insufficient sleep has a negative impact on health, cognition and social functioning and, in extreme cases, can lead to death. The decisions animals make about when, where and how to sleep are therefore important, and are likely to have considerable, if still poorly understood, consequences for fitness. When individuals sleep together, the choices they make and the trade-offs they face are fundamentally shaped by the behavior of their group mates and by the collective dynamics that emerge from group sleep. To understand how the social environment shapes and is shaped by sleep patterns in the wild, we are using thermal videography, GPS tracking and triaxial accelerometry to monitor the diurnal and nocturnal behavior of a population of wild olive baboons (Papio anubis) in Laikipia, Kenya. The initial results of this project demonstrate not only that the social context influences the sleep habits of wild animals, but also that sleep dynamics have consequent effects on the social landscape that extend well beyond the sleep period.