VOA慢速英语2019 研究人员在加拿大发现了食肉植物

Researchers Discover Meat-Eating Plant in Canada

Researchers say they have discovered a plant in Canada that not only eats insects, but also feeds on at least one amphibious creature.

The discovery was recently reported in a study by a research team from Canada’s University of Guelph in Ontario. The study was published in the journal Ecology.

The research involved pitcher¹ plants in Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial² Park. The plants – which take many shapes and sizes and have colorful designs - grow in wetlands across Canada.

A pitcher plant’s leaves usually form a tall, narrow pocket that can hold liquid. Insects and spiders that enter the pocket often become trapped and the pitcher plant then feeds on their bodies.

Pitcher plants are often found in bogs⁴ - soft, extremely wet areas. The plants are known for feeding on small organisms – such as insects and spiders – that get caught in the trap.

But the researchers made a surprising discovery - the pitcher plants were also feeding on young salamanders. A salamander is a lizard-like amphibian⁵.

The research team said it believes this is the first time any North American pitcher plants have been observed feeding on anything besides insects or spiders.

In the summer of 2017, then University of Guelph student Teskey Baldwin found a salamander trapped inside a pitcher plant while doing field work in the provincial park. One of the biggest surprises was that the discovery did not happen earlier, the researchers said.

Alex Smith is a biology professor at the University of Guelph and co-writer of the study. He told Canada’s CTV News the research station near the bog³ where the pitcher plants were observed has been there for 70 years.

“So the surprise was that we discovered such a new case of plants eating vertebrates involving such a well-known species⁶ in such a well-known space,” Smith said.

During visits to a single area of the park in fall of 2018, the research team found almost one in five pitcher plants contained young salamanders. The amphibians⁷ were each about as long as a human finger.

Several plants contained more than one captured salamander. Some of the trapped salamanders died within three days, while others lived for up to 19 days, the study found.

The researchers said they do not know what killed the salamanders. They could have died from proteins produced by the pitcher plants that are held in liquid inside the leaves. This liquid mixture is designed to break down organisms trapped in the plants to aid the feeding process.

The researchers suggested other possible causes for the salamander deaths could have included heat, starvation or infections. Organisms living in the pitcher may also help break down the salamanders’ bodies.

The study found that there are also several possible reasons the young salamanders are drawn⁸ to the plants in the first place. One is that they fall into the plant pockets accidentally. They also could go in to find a place to hide or to feed on insects or spiders already trapped there.

The researchers say pitcher plants clearly get a lot more nutrients⁹ from salamanders than from insects and spiders. So there is no reason to think that the plants will not continue feeding on them.

Meat-eating pitcher plants have been known since the eighteenth century, the University of Guelph says. One species discovered 10 years ago in Asia feeds mostly on insects and spiders, but sometimes captures small birds and mice.

Alex Smith said the discovery opens some new questions that future research might help explain. Are salamanders an important feeding source for pitcher plants? Are the plants important “predators” of the amphibians? Might the salamanders compete with plants for insect food?

The university said the discovery area could even be called the “Little Bog of Horrors” after a Broadway musical and film that includes a giant plant that likes to eat people.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

amphibious – adj. able to live on both land and in water

leaf – n. the flat part of a plant that are joined at one end to the stem¹¹ or branch

pocket – n. part of something that can hold other things

vertebrate – n. animal that has a spine¹²

predator¹⁰ – n. animal that hunts and kills other animals for food

1 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

2 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

3 bog   

n.沼泽；室...陷入泥淖

参考例句：

• We were able to pass him a rope before the bog sucked him under.我们终于得以在沼泽把他吞没前把绳子扔给他。
• The path goes across an area of bog.这条小路穿过一片沼泽。

4 bogs   

n.沼泽，泥塘( bog的名词复数 )；厕所v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的第三人称单数 )；妨碍，阻碍

参考例句：

• Whenever It'shows its true nature, real life bogs to a standstill. 无论何时，只要它显示出它的本来面目，真正的生活就陷入停滞。 来自名作英译部分
• At Jitra we went wading through bogs. 在日得拉我们步行着从泥水塘里穿过去。 来自辞典例句

5 amphibian   

n.两栖动物；水陆两用飞机和车辆

参考例句：

• The frog is an amphibian,which means it can live on land and in water.青蛙属于两栖动物，也就是说它既能生活在陆地上也能生活在水里。
• Amphibian is an important specie in ecosystem and has profound meaning in the ecotoxicology evaluation.两栖类是生态系统中的重要物种，并且对环境毒理评价有着深远意义。

6 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

7 amphibians   

两栖动物( amphibian的名词复数 )； 水陆两用车； 水旱两生植物； 水陆两用飞行器

参考例句：

• The skin of amphibians is permeable to water. 两栖动物的皮肤是透水的。
• Two amphibians ferry them out over the sands. 两辆水陆两用车把他们渡过沙滩。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 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》

10 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

11 stem   

n.茎，干，船首，词干，血统；vt.堵住，阻止，抽去梗；vi.起源于，发生

参考例句：

• Cut the stem cleanly,just beneath a leaf joint.把茎切整齐点，正好切在叶根下。
• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。

12 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。