SSS 2008-03-19

（单词翻译）

This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I am Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute.
Ants are known for working together, operating as a unit for the good of the colony. But not so fast, say researchers from the Universities of Leeds and Copenhagen. It turns out that ants can scheme like a stage mom. Scientists say that some ants hide out to ensure that their offspring become child-bearing queens instead of barren workers. They accepted hypothesis had been that random¹ ants were fed certain foods that would allow them to develop into queens. But DNA² tests on five colonies of leaf-cutting ants revealed that certain males have a better genetic⁴ chance of producing royal progeny⁵. Scientists believe these rare males stay anonymous⁶, and thus avoid any problems with other ants that might otherwise lose their ‘one for all, all for one’ attitude. In fact, the number of males carrying royal genes⁷ to those who aren’t may have settled at a low ratio through evolution which cobbled together the best way for ant gene³ pool to expand or at the same time keeping the lucky males hidden from their possibly jealous rivals.
Thanks for the minute, for Scientific American, 60-Second Science. I am Cynthia Graber.