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科学美国人60秒 SSS 妈妈的基因对下一代更重要

时间:2019-09-29 02:16来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

Just like humans have virtually unique sets of fingerprints1, every giraffe has a unique set of spots. Not that those spot patterns really help wildlife biologists identify their study subjects in real time.

就像人类有独特的指纹一样,每只长颈鹿都有独特的斑点。但并不是说这些斑点模式真的能帮助野生动物生物学家实时识别他们的研究对象。

"We have more than 3000 individuals. … I have a hard time keeping track of that many humans so I have that problem with giraffes as well."

“我们有3000多人。他说:“我很难跟踪那么多人类,所以我对长颈鹿也有同样的问题。”

Derek Lee is a wildlife biologist and population ecologist at Penn State, and with the Wild Nature Institute, a research consultancy group. He and his collaborators have been tracking giraffes for seven years, throughout 1500 square miles in Tanzania. And they've amassed2 a library of 70,000 giraffe photos along the way. Photographing the animals isn't that hard, he says.

德里克·李(Derek Lee)是宾夕法尼亚州立大学的野生生物学家和种群生态学家,他就职于研究咨询机构野生自然研究所。他和合作者在坦桑尼亚1500平方英里的土地上追踪长颈鹿已有7年了,沿途收集了7万张长颈鹿的照片。他说,拍摄这些动物并不难。

"The hard part is the tsetse flies constantly biting us on our face and hands while we're trying to take pictures."Now, they've used image analysis software to study the spots of mothers and their calves3. And they found that baby giraffes inherit at least some particular elements of their patterning from their mothers. Like how circular the spots are, and how jagged the edges are.

“最难的部分是采采蝇,英文在我们拍照的时候它们不断地咬我们的脸和手。”现在,他们使用图像分析软件来研究母体和幼体的斑点。他们发现小长颈鹿至少从它们的母亲那里遗传了一些特定的模式元素。就像斑点是多么圆,边缘是多么锯齿状。

They also found that calves with larger spots were more likely to survive their first months on the savannah, perhaps because the spots better mimic4 the dappled sunlight in the bushes where calves like to hide from hungry lions and hyenas5. The results—and a lot of giraffe patterns—are in the journal PeerJ.

他们还发现,斑点较大的幼仔更有可能在大草原上度过头几个月,也许是因为这些斑点更像灌木丛中斑驳的阳光,幼仔喜欢躲在那里躲避饥饿的狮子和鬣狗。研究结果——以及许多长颈鹿图案——刊登在PeerJ杂志上。

It’s perhaps not surprising that a physical characteristic that protects an individual from being eaten passes the test of Darwinian natural selection—and get passed along to offspring. "The fact these things are heritable and they did affect juvenile6 survival makes us feel like evolution is acting7 on these spot traits." So if mom's camouflage8 is good, her babies, too, might have the spots that make them harder to spot.

保护个体不被吃掉的身体特征通过了达尔文自然选择的考验,并遗传给了后代,这也许并不奇怪。“这些东西是可遗传的,它们确实影响了青少年的生存,这让我们觉得进化是根据这些斑点特征进行的。”因此,如果妈妈的伪装很好,她的孩子也可能有斑点,使他们更难被捕食者发现。


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 fingerprints 9b456c81cc868e5bdf3958245615450b     
n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
  • They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套,以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 amassed 4047ea1217d3f59ca732ca258d907379     
v.积累,积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
  • They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 calves bb808da8ca944ebdbd9f1d2688237b0b     
n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子,腓;腿肚子( calf的名词复数 );牛犊;腓;小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 );(冰川)崩解;生(小牛等),产(犊);使(冰川)崩解
参考例句:
  • a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
  • The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 mimic PD2xc     
v.模仿,戏弄;n.模仿他人言行的人
参考例句:
  • A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
  • He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。
5 hyenas f7b0c2304b9433d9f69980a715aa6dbe     
n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • These animals were the prey of hyenas. 这些动物是鬣狗的猎物。 来自辞典例句
  • We detest with horror the duplicity and villainy of the murderous hyenas of Bukharinite wreckers. 我们非常憎恨布哈林那帮两面三刀、杀人破坏,干尽坏事的豺狼。 来自辞典例句
6 juvenile OkEy2     
n.青少年,少年读物;adj.青少年的,幼稚的
参考例句:
  • For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人,他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
  • Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。
7 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
8 camouflage NsnzR     
n./v.掩饰,伪装
参考例句:
  • The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
  • The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。
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TAG标签:   科学美国人60秒  英语听力  sss
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