科学美国人60秒 SSS 牛椋鸟帮助黑犀牛避开偷猎者

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Susanne Bard¹.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是苏珊娜·巴德。

Black rhinos³ have terrible eyesight. Even so, these giant African herbivores easily fend⁴ off hungry lions and hyenas⁵.

黑犀牛的视力很差。即便如此，这些非洲大型食草动物也能轻松地抵抗饥饿的狮子和鬣狗。

"Their basic body plan has proved to be good enough to survive on a savanna⁶ full of large predators⁷,

“事实证明，它们的基本身体规划足够优秀，能在布满大型捕食者的非洲大草原上生存，

being very large, thick-skinned—big, rapierlike horns."

使其成为体型庞大、皮糙肉厚、角似长剑的动物。”

Victoria University of Melbourne behavioral ecologist Roan Plotz.

墨尔本维多利亚大学的行为生态学家罗恩·普洛茨说到。

But those protective traits are no match for humans with guns.

但这些保护性特征无法抵抗持枪人类。

Today the species is critically endangered largely due to poaching.

现在，这个物种成为极度濒危物种的主要原因是偷猎。

But the rhinos may have an unlikely ally against poachers: the red-billed oxpecker.

但在对抗偷猎者方面，黑犀牛有个看似不太可能的盟友：红嘴牛椋鸟。

The chatty, sociable⁸ birds often hang out on the backs of rhinos, feasting on parasitic⁹ ticks.

这种健谈、好交际的鸟经常在犀牛背上闲逛，尽情享用寄生扁虱。

"And actually, research has shown that the tick is the favorite diet of an oxpecker.

“研究表明，扁虱是牛椋鸟最喜欢的食物。

And if they feed on ticks, that is a good thing."

如果它们以扁虱为食，那是件好事。”

The birds also get nutrients¹⁰ by picking at sores on the rhinos' bodies.

这些鸟还通过啄食黑犀牛身上的溃疡来获取营养。

Plotz suspected that the rhinos put up with this indignity¹¹

普洛茨怀疑，黑犀牛忍受这种侮辱的原因是，

because the oxpeckers make loud alarm calls whenever they see humans approach—giving the rhinos an early warning to flee.

牛椋鸟看到人类靠近时会发出响亮的警报叫声，这给黑犀牛提供了逃跑预警。

"And it's sort of a distinctive¹² rattling¹³, a bit hissing¹⁴ sort of sound."

“这是一种独特的卡嗒声，还夹带点嘶嘶声。”

To test whether the oxpeckers do, in fact, act as noisy lookouts¹⁵, Plotz and his team implanted radio transmitters in the rhinos' horns.

为了测试牛椋鸟是否确实能成为聒噪的守望者，普洛茨及其团队在黑犀牛角里植入了无线电发射器。

This didn't hurt the rhinos and allowed the researchers to track the animals...

这不会伤害黑犀牛，而是为了让研究人员得以追踪这些动物……

"And approach them undetected, when the oxpeckers were on the back and when the oxpeckers were not on their backs,

“无论牛椋鸟是否在黑犀牛背上，我们都能在未被发现的情况下接近它们，

to get an idea of if the birds do alert them and if the rhinos do listen."

以了解这种鸟是否能提醒黑犀牛，以及黑犀牛是否听到了警报。”

The researchers found that rhinos without oxpeckers detected an approaching human only 23 percent of the time, at an average distance of 27 meters.

研究人员发现，背上没有牛椋鸟的黑犀牛发现人类接近的概率仅有23%，平均距离27米。

But when oxpeckers were present, the birds alerted the rhinos 100 percent of the time.

但牛椋鸟在场时，其会100%提醒黑犀牛。

And they detected the human 61 meters away on average.

这些鸟在平均61米外就能探测到人类。

And the more oxpeckers on the scene, the greater the detection distance—which means the earlier the warning.

出现的牛椋鸟越多，探测距离就越远，这意味着发出警报的时间也越早。

"Which makes sense because the more eyes you have on your back, looking out for you, the more chance that they can pick up anything coming.

“这是有道理的，因为你背上盯梢的眼睛越多，发现物体接近的几率就越大。

What we think is going on, fundamentally, is that the rhino² is eavesdropping¹⁶ on the oxpecker alarm call, there can be no doubt of that.

从根本上来说，我们认为黑犀牛在偷听牛椋鸟的警报叫声，这是毫无疑问的。

There's a really strong antihuman benefit to listening to oxpecker alarm calls."

听牛椋鸟的警报叫声，是严重反人类的利益。”

The study is in the journal Current Biology, with oxpecker recording¹⁷ by Tiffany Plantan of the University of Miami.

这项研究发表在《当代生物学》期刊上，牛椋鸟的叫声录音由迈阿密大学的蒂芙尼·普兰坦录制。

Plotz thinks the oxpeckers may have evolved their sentinel behavior because it protects their convenient food source.

普洛茨认为，牛椋鸟可能为了保护方便的食物来源，而进化出哨兵行为。

And the more lookouts, the better in what seems like a win-win for both species: the birds thrive and the rhinos survive.

哨兵越多越好，这对两个物种来说似乎是双赢局面：牛椋鸟繁衍生息，黑犀牛得以生存。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Susanne Bard.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是苏珊娜·巴德。

1 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

2 rhino   

n.犀牛，钱, 现金

参考例句：

• The rhino charged headlong towards us.犀牛急速地向我们冲来。
• They have driven the rhino to the edge of extinction.他们已经令犀牛濒临灭绝。

3 rhinos   

n.犀牛（rhino的复数形式）

参考例句：

• There are many reports of people taming and even training Indian rhinos. 有许多关于人们驯养甚至训练印度犀牛的记载。 来自辞典例句
• The rhinos had fed during the night in the rice fields of these villagers. 犀牛夜里在这些村民的庄稼地里也已吃饱了。 来自辞典例句

4 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

5 hyenas   

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 savanna   

n.大草原

参考例句：

• The savanna is also the home of meat-eaters--the lion,leopard,and hyena who feed on the grasseaters.大草原也是食肉动物的家乡--狮子、豹、鬣狗--它们都是以草食动物维持生命的。
• They sped upon velvet wheels across an exhilarant savanna.他们的马车轻捷地穿过一片令人赏心悦目的大草原。

7 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 sociable   

adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的

参考例句：

• Roger is a very sociable person.罗杰是个非常好交际的人。
• Some children have more sociable personalities than others.有些孩子比其他孩子更善于交际。

9 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

10 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 indignity   

n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑

参考例句：

• For more than a year we have suffered the indignity.在一年多的时间里,我们丢尽了丑。
• She was subjected to indignity and humiliation.她受到侮辱和羞辱。

12 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

13 rattling   

adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词

参考例句：

• This book is a rattling good read. 这是一本非常好的读物。
• At that same instant,a deafening explosion set the windows rattling. 正在这时，一声震耳欲聋的爆炸突然袭来，把窗玻璃震得当当地响。

14 hissing   

n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。
• His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

15 lookouts   

n.寻找（ 某人/某物）( lookout的名词复数 )；是某人（自己）的问题；警戒；瞭望台

参考例句：

• Lookouts were spotted all along the coast. 沿海岸都布置了监视哨。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Lookouts and leadsmen in bulky life jackets stumbled and slipped after him. 监视哨和测深员穿着饱鼓鼓的救生衣，跌跌撞撞地跟在他后面。 来自辞典例句

16 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

17 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。