另外,有研究發現鴨子在地面上睡眠時,能維持半邊腦清醒,以保持對掠食者的警戒[3]。這更增加了鳥能邊飛邊睡這說法的可能性。但這樣的懷疑,一直以來都缺乏研究證據。直到今年(2016年),ㄧ個由德國 Max Planck Institute for Ornithology 所主導的國際研究團隊,證實軍艦鳥(英文俗名:Great frigatebird,學名:Fregata minor,此種鳥的中文命名爭議請見文末)可以在飛行中睡覺[4]。
軍艦鳥成年雄鳥的喉囊為紅色且會明顯膨脹,是非常顯眼的特徵。圖/By Charlesjsharp – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, wikimedia commons.
依據《台灣鳥類誌》,此鳥最初於 1789 年由德國博物學家 Johann Friedrich Gmelin 命名,牠的學名 Pelecanus minor 意指「較小型的鵜鶘」,但後來新的鳥類分類將牠列在新的軍艦鳥屬中,也就改成了現在的學名 Fregata minor。從學名來看 minor 常讓人誤解牠是種「較小的軍艦鳥」,但牠的體型在軍艦鳥屬中其實是較大的,因而得到了 Great frigatebird 的俗名。在這命名過程中的小插曲,導致這種軍艦鳥的中文譯名,同時有「大軍艦鳥」和「小軍艦鳥」兩個截然不同的名字。
為了避免這樣的混淆在《台灣鳥類誌》中以「黑腹軍艦鳥」指稱此種鳥,但這種鳥卻又不是全部都有黑色的腹部,像是雌鳥和未成熟的雄鳥腹部其實是白色的。因此在此筆者用「軍艦鳥」來作為 Fregata minor 的中文譯名。
參考資料:
-----廣告,請繼續往下閱讀-----
Liechti, F., Witvliet, W., Weber, R., & Bächler, E. (2013). First evidence of a 200-day non-stop flight in a bird. Nature Communications, 4.
Rattenborg, N. C. (2006). Do birds sleep in flight?. Naturwissenschaften, 93(9), 413-425.
Rattenborg, N. C., Lima, S. L., & Amlaner, C. J. (1999). Half-awake to the risk of predation. Nature, 397(6718), 397-398.
Rattenborg, N. C., Voirin, B., Cruz, S. M. et al. (2016). Evidence that birds sleep in mid-flight. Nature Communications, 7.
Weimerskirch, H., Bishop, C., Jeanniard-du-Dot, T., Prudor, A., & Sachs, G. (2016). Frigate birds track atmospheric conditions over months-long transoceanic flights. Science, 353(6294), 74-78.
Lyamin, O. I., Manger, P. R., Ridgway, S. H., Mukhametov, L. M., & Siegel, J. M. (2008). Cetacean sleep: an unusual form of mammalian sleep.Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 32(8), 1451-1484.
Lyamin, O. I., Mukhametov, L. M., & Siegel, J. M. (2004). Relationship between sleep and eye state in Cetaceans and Pinnipeds. Archives italiennes de biologie, 142(4), 557-568.
Downs, C. T., Awuah, A., Jordaan, M. et al. (2015). Too Hot to Sleep? Sleep Behaviour and Surface Body Temperature of Wahlberg’s Epauletted Fruit Bat. PloS one, 10(3), e0119419.
Rattenborg, N. C., Amlaner, C. J., & Lima, S. L. (2000). Behavioral, neurophysiological and evolutionary perspectives on unihemispheric sleep.Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 24(8), 817-842.
Thomas, M., Sing, H., Belenky, G. et al. (2000). Neural basis of alertness and cognitive performance impairments during sleepiness. I. Effects of 24 h of sleep deprivation on waking human regional brain activity. Journal of sleep research, 9(4), 335-352.
View Comments