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The interrelationships between sleep, ecological, and constitutional variables were assessed statistically for 39 mammalian species. Slow-wave sleep is negatively associated with a factor related to body size, which suggests that large amounts of this sleep phase are disadvantageous in large species. Paradoxical sleep is associated with a factor related to predatory danger, which suggests that large amounts of this sleep phase are disadvantageous in prey species.
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Allison et al. (1976) studied this question.
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