Ashlyn Hernandez

Professor Robin Doyle

Biology 1610

15 October 2018

Summary of Biological Article by Paul-Antoine LIbourel

This is a summary for the article Partial Homologies Between Sleep States In Lizards,

Mammals, and Birds Suggested a Complex Evolution of Sleep States in Amniotes by Paul-

Antoine Libourel.

Rapid eye movement (REM) and slow-wave sleep (SWS) are two sleep stages found in a

good majority of mammals and birds. This was first described in the 50’s, during an experiment

on humans and cats. In SWS heart rates, body temperature, eye movements and muscle tone are

reduced. REM sleep is very different biologically, processes that regulate body temperature like

shivering, piloerection and sweating do not happen. Breathing and heart rates can become

irregular and the temperature of the brain increases.

Because lizards are said to have a common ancestor with both mammals and birds,

Libourel is trying to determine if REM and SWS like sleep states are also seen in lizards when

they sleep. They are also trying to see if it is possible to find an ancestral origin in the amniote

tree. Libourel and his team decided that in order to verify that lizards did have these two different

sleep stages, they would try to recreate the experiments done by Shein-Idelson and his

colleagues. These experiments had been successful, but had never been recreated.

They studied one Bearded Dragon and six Argentine tegu Lizards. They did many

different experiments, like sleep deprivation and injecting anti-depressant, and recorded LFP

(local field potential) by implanting electrodes in four parts of the forebrain all at different
depths, EMG (electromyogram) and EOG (electrooculogram), ECG (electrocardiogram). All of

the lizards were monitored 24 hours a day, were kept at a constant temperature and fed the same

amount everyday.

During their experiments for the bearded dragon there were two sleep stages recorded.

One had more rapid eye movement than the other as shown by EOG. This all happened during

the dark period of the day and proved the Shein-Idelson experiments and results.

On the down side, the first round of experiments for the Argentine tegu Lizard came up

with very different results than were expected, so Libourel and his team decided to reconstruct

the experiments and create and multiparameter approach. The experiments for the Argentine tegu

lizards were much more intricate than the ones done to the bearded dragons. They had slightly

different behavior than the bearded dragons and all seem to be on the same biological clock.

Libourel and his team's final results saw that bearded dragons do have two sleep stages,

but cannot draw a conclusion about the nature and homology of said states. As for the Argentine

tegu lizards, Libourel and his team were the first to show that they do show behavioral sleep at

night, and that they do have 2 stages of sleep. In both species of lizards he concluded that the

first sleep state could be related to SWS in mammals and birds, and the second sleep state could

also be related to REM sleep in mammals and birds.

What Libourel and his team could not prove however is the is the ancestral origin of the

two sleep states because there are not enough studies on nonavian reptiles. He claims that about

75% of the studies done on turtles and crocodiles show that there are not two sleep states in their

sleeping patterns. Tests on fish and other nonavian reptiles would most likely help in the search

for the ancestral origin of the two sleep states in the amniote tree.
 Works Cited

Libourel P-A, Barrillot B, Arthaud S, Massot B, Morel A-L, Beuf O, et al. (2018) Partial

homologies between sleep states in lizards, mammals, and birds suggest a complex evolution of

sleep states in amniotes. PLoS Biol 16(10): e2005982.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2005982