Nesting Chinstrap Penguins Take Over 10,000 Small Naps Throughout the Day, New Research Finds

Chinstrap penguins love a good nap — or 10,000!

According to research published in the journal Science earlier this week, nesting birds in colonies in Antarctica take over 10,000 naps throughout the day.

The naps, which the research described as microsleeps — "seconds-long interruptions of wakefulness by eye closure and sleep-related brain activity," per the journal — last for only around 4 seconds at a time.

Still, the research suggested that the naps add up and amount to 11 hours total of sleep.

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In order to study the penguins, scientists inserted devices into a small group of the animals' skulls.

Using brain wave and location data, which was paired with filming the animals, researchers were able to get the data they were looking for.

Researchers also said in the study that they believe the penguins taking short interval naps helps them avoid predators.

"Pretty much every study on sleeping birds discovers something new, something we didn't know about before," study co-author Paul-Antoine Libourel, a researcher at the French CNRS in the Neurosciences Research Center of Lyon, said in a statement, per NPR.