There have been several times when I have observed our dog moving while she sleeps, and I wondered whether she was having a dream. Of course, I couldn't know. Apparently, there are some animals that exhibit behavior similar to what humans do during REM sleep. Behavioral ecologist Daniela Rößler and her colleagues found that spiders seem to experience a similar rapid eye movement at particular intervals.
Though the spiders are motionless in the run-up to these REM-like bouts, the team hasn’t yet proved that they are sleeping. But if it turns out that they are — and if what looks like REM really is REM — dreaming is a distinct possibility, Rößler says. She finds it easy to imagine that jumping spiders, as highly visual animals, might benefit from dreams as a way to process information they took in during the day.
Furthermore, spiders aren't the only creatures that might be dreaming in their sleep. It is possible that bearded dragons, cuttlefish, octopuses and even pigeons also enter into a REM sleep state. Learn more at Knowable Mag.
(Video credit: Knowable Mag)
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I am willing to bet a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies that my dog dreams about the squirrel tree every night because one time when she went outside to take a potty break she unintentionally flushed out a squirrel that ran across our yard and climbed up the neighbor's tree escaping my dog's jaws with inches to spare. 3 years later and my dog always runs to the neighbor's tree in hopes of catching a squirrel. She is still on the lookout and I have no doubt that in her dreams she is doing her best to catch that pesky rodent.
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