It is possible that our sleeping habits may be related to the kind of food we eat, its availability and ease of procurement. The need and ability to hide from predators may also dictate how and how much different species sleep. Psychiatrist Jerome Siegel of UCLA makes an evolutionary connection between the "ecological niche" of carnivores, herbivores and marine animals and their sleep patterns. His theory does not contradict other explanations of the why’s and how’s of sleep, such as the"down time" needed for brain cells to convert information into learning.
According to Siegel, the theory does not so much contradict other theories about the role of sleep as much as place them in context: "What I am saying is that it is not that sleep has been adapted to allow some vital function to be fulfilled, but the core function of sleep is to adapt animals to their ecological niche," Siegel said. "Given the animal is inactive for a certain period of the day, certain functions will migrate to that period because it is more efficient" to perform them at that time."
Accidental Blogger 