Scientists video REM-like sleep in Australian jumping spider species

Key points

• Scientists have recorded REM-like sleep in a small Australian jumping spider species, Portia fimbriata. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found the spiders experience distinct sleep stages, including a quiescent phase and a REM-like stage with leg curls and eye movements.
• Researchers observed slower responses to stimuli during these sleep stages, similar to humans.
• The study aims to understand how sleep has evolved across the animal kingdom and plans to investigate sleep in spiders in the wild, including fieldwork in northern Queensland and Western Australia.