00:03This is an antichinus, a small mouse-like marsupial native to Australia.
00:08However, while it might seem fairly ordinary, it has an uncouth strategy for passing on its genes.
00:13It will forgo a considerable amount of its sleeping time in exchange for sex.
00:18Researchers observed the creatures in the wild for years,
00:21finding that during mating season, male antichinuses will spend three weeks cutting down their sleep,
00:26catching only 12 hours of Zs as opposed to their regular 15.
00:30That might not seem like much, but the researchers say it's significant.
00:33And when looking at other species, it seems counterintuitive.
00:36With researcher Erika Zaid saying in a recent press release,
00:40quote, in humans and other animals, restricting the normal amount of sleep leads to worse performance while awake,
00:45an effect that compounds night after night.
00:47And yet the antichinus did just that.
00:49However, the male antichinus doesn't really need to have a healthy sleeping pattern heading into or even after its mating
00:55season.
00:55That's because shortly after it mates and passes on its DNA,
00:58it dies and is left to be eaten by its mate.
01:01With the study's author telling the New York Times, quote,
01:04these males are just programmed to die and end their evolutionary longevity after one year.
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