SSS 2008-02-14

（单词翻译）

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science .I'm Cynthia Graber. This'll just take a minute.

It's Valentine's Day, even for barnacles which are stuck to rocks. But evolution has endowed these stationary¹ creatures with some curious abilities according to/ research published online in The Proceedings² of the Royal Society. Male barnacles have members that can stretch to eight times their body length to reach a similarly stuck female. They have other problems though, strong waves in tides. Scientists at Canada's University of Alberta discovered that barnacles cope with this challenge by developing differently shaped genitalia. Barnacles that cling to rocks on wave-exposed shores have shorter, wider organs so they can maintain control in violent waters . Those that are living in coast protected from crushing waves have longer slimer ones. Researchers transplanted young barnacles living in protected coasts to unprotected ones and vice³ versa. And the animals developed accordingly. For example, barnacles from calm areas that were moved to turbulent seas grew shorter wider members. This experiment shows that barnacles can develop their digit⁴ to suit local conditions and reach through churning waters to connect with someone special.

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Synthia Graber.