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科学美国人60秒 SSS 偷听让焦虑的松鼠感到安心

时间:2020-07-08 01:20:27

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(单词翻译)

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata.

Seems like any time you see a squirrel, it's busy doing something—headed somewhere; scrounging for food. And being out and about all the time also means "they're tasty morsels1 for a lot of different predators2."

Keith Tarvin, a behavioral ecologist at Oberlin College. He says squirrels scan their surroundings for hawks4 and owls5, cats and foxes. But they also have another surveillance system: they eavesdrop6 on nearby birds.

"Eavesdropping7 on alarm calls or eavesdropping on chatter8 is a cheap and easy way to supplement the information they have access to. Because it's free. It's produced by other individuals in the environment. It's publicly available to any organism that has the cognitive9 ability to recognize and interpret that information."

Tarvin's colleague Marie Lilly tested that ability by riding round town on her bicycle, stopping when she found a squirrel. Then she'd set up her equipment. Play the fearsome scream of a red-tailed hawk3.

(CLIP: Hawk sound)

And then either play the casual, unworried chatter of songbirds...

(CLIP: Chatter)

... or ambient noise...

(CLIP: Ambient)

... as a control. All the while, she observed the squirrels' behavior.

And she noticed that when squirrels heard the reassuring10 chatter of songbirds following the hawk's scream, they relaxed more readily. "Imagine this: If you're walking in a crowd, and everyone seems pretty happy and content, and they're chitchatting with each other, you might even subconsciously11 take that as information that all of those eyes and ears perceive the environment as being safe. And we think the squirrels might be listening in on bird chatter in the same way." The details are in the journal PLOS ONE.

Squirrels give back to the community, too, with their own alarm calls.

(CLIP: Squirrel alarm)

Which might help other eavesdropping animals. But in busy urban environments, Tarvin says that rich fabric12 of animal communication risks being drowned out, by the loudest animals around: us.

(CLIP: City sounds)

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列,我是克里斯托弗·因塔格里塔。

好像任何时候看到松鼠,它们都在忙碌——忙着前往某地或是寻找食物。一直四处奔波意味着“它们是许多不同捕食者眼中的可口食物。”

奥伯林学院的行为生态学家基思·塔文说到。他表示,松鼠会察看周围是否有鹰、猫头鹰、猫和狐狸。不过它们还有另外一个监视系统:它们会窃听附近的鸟类。

“窃听鸟类警报声或鸣叫声是一种廉价且简单的方式,可以补充它们获得的信息。因为这些信息是免费得到的。是由环境中的其它个体产生的。任何具有识别能力且能解释这些信息的生物都能公开获取。”

塔文的同事玛丽·莉莉测试了这种能力,她骑着自行车环绕城镇,发现松鼠就停下。然后,她架起自已的设备。播放红尾鵟可怕的尖叫声。

(片段:鹰叫声)

然后再播放鸣鸟轻松且无忧无虑的鸣叫声

(片段:鸣叫声)

或是环境噪声

(片段:环境音)

作为对照。期间她一直在观察松鼠的行为。

她注意到,在听到红尾鵟的尖叫之后又听到鸣鸟的鸣叫声时,松鼠会更容易放松下来。“想象一下,假如你走在人群中,所有人都看起来很开心而且很满足,他们在彼此聊着天,你甚至可能下意识地将其视为‘所有人都认为环境很安全'的信息。我们认为松鼠可能会以同样的方式偷听鸟类的鸣叫声。”研究详情刊登在《公共科学图书馆·综合》期刊上。

松鼠也会用自已的警报声回馈群体。

(片段:松鼠警报声)

这可能有助于其它偷听动物。但塔文表示,在繁忙的城市环境中,动物丰富的交流结构有被周围最吵闹动物盖过的风险,这种最吵闹的动物就是我们人类。

(片段:城市的声音)

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 morsels ed5ad10d588acb33c8b839328ca6c41c     
n.一口( morsel的名词复数 );(尤指食物)小块,碎屑
参考例句:
  • They are the most delicate morsels. 这些确是最好吃的部分。 来自辞典例句
  • Foxes will scratch up grass to find tasty bug and beetle morsels. 狐狸会挖草地,寻找美味的虫子和甲壳虫。 来自互联网
2 predators 48b965855934a5395e409c1112d94f63     
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》
3 hawk NeKxY     
n.鹰,骗子;鹰派成员
参考例句:
  • The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
  • The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。
4 hawks c8b4f3ba2fd1208293962d95608dd1f1     
鹰( hawk的名词复数 ); 鹰派人物,主战派人物
参考例句:
  • Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
  • Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。
5 owls 7b4601ac7f6fe54f86669548acc46286     
n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋,”我说,“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
  • The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句
6 eavesdrop lrPxS     
v.偷听,倾听
参考例句:
  • He ensconced himself in the closet in order to eavesdrop.他藏在壁橱里,以便偷听。
  • It is not polite to eavesdrop on the conversation of other people.偷听他人说话是很不礼貌的。
7 eavesdropping 4a826293c077353641ee3f86da957082     
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。
8 chatter BUfyN     
vi./n.喋喋不休;短促尖叫;(牙齿)打战
参考例句:
  • Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
  • I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。
9 cognitive Uqwz0     
adj.认知的,认识的,有感知的
参考例句:
  • As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大,他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
  • The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。
10 reassuring vkbzHi     
a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的,使人放心的
参考例句:
  • He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
  • With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。
11 subconsciously WhIzFD     
ad.下意识地,潜意识地
参考例句:
  • In choosing a partner we are subconsciously assessing their evolutionary fitness to be a mother of children or father provider and protector. 在选择伴侣的时候,我们会在潜意识里衡量对方将来是否会是称职的母亲或者父亲,是否会是合格的一家之主。
  • Lao Yang thought as he subconsciously tightened his grasp on the rifle. 他下意识地攥紧枪把想。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
12 fabric 3hezG     
n.织物,织品,布;构造,结构,组织
参考例句:
  • The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
  • I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

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