2011年5月1日星期日

[foto]城市鸟类因其大脑更大而能在非自然环境下觅食

 
 

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via 译言-自然科学与技术 by 清污 on 4/30/11

原作者:
来源Urban birds have larger brains so they can find food in unnatural environment  | Mail Online
译者清污

Birds living in cities have larger brains because they have to be more resourceful about finding food, scientists have discovered.

       科学家们已经发现:生活在城市中的鸟类拥有更大的大脑,这是因为它们必须对觅食更加机智。

Urban birds have to adapt to an environment that is not their natural home and find new ways of feeding themselves.

       城市鸟类必须要适应与自然环境大相径庭的环境,并在这种不一样的环境中找到能够使自己生存下来的新方式。

This means that over generations their brains have grown bigger as they think in new ways about how to survive.

       这意味着,这些鸟类由于思考如何生存下去的新方式,而又经过数代的繁衍,它们的大脑已经变得更大。

Big-headed: Urban birds, including the crow, have larger brains because they have to be more resourceful about finding food, scientists claim

        

   (大头鸟:科学家称,包括乌鸦在内的城市鸟类拥有更大的大脑,因为他们必须对觅食更加机智。)

The research is the first time that scientists have shown that the size of the brain is a key part of city life for avians.

       科学家们研究第一次表明,大脑的尺寸对鸟类来说是在城市生存的关键因素。

The scientists identified 'urban adapters' as crows, wrens and tits which all come from the same family and all have larger brains compared to their bodies.

       科学家们发现,像乌鸦、鹪鹩和山雀等同科的"城市生活适应者",它们都有着和自身体型相比更大的大脑。

Other small-brained species such as barn swallows do survive in cities but are not true 'adapters', said evolutionary biology expert Dr Alexei Maklakov, the lead researcher.

       该项研究的领导者、进化生物学家Alexei Maklakov博士表示,其他那些如家燕在内的小脑袋物种也能在城市存活,但那并非是真正意义上的"适应者"。

'A centre of a modern city is a novel and rather harsh environment for most species and the ability to sustain a varied diet or develop novel foraging techniques and perhaps utilise non-standard nesting places, can be beneficial,' he said.

       "现代城市的中心是崭新的,而且对大多数物种而言生存环境相当严酷。对鸟类来说,那些维持丰富种类饮食的能力、发展新觅食本领、或者也许采用不常规的选址筑巢,都可能是有益的。"

A wren: Researchers identified 'urban adapters' as crows, wrens and tits which all come from the same family and all have larger brains compared to their bodies

   

 (一只鹪鹩: 研究者们发现,像乌鸦、鹪鹩和山雀等同科的"城市生活适应者",它们都有着和自身体型相比更大的大脑。

His team from the Evolutionary Biology Centre in Uppsala, Sweden and the Donana Biological Station, in Seville, Spain studied 82 species of birds from 22 families.

       他来自瑞典乌普萨拉进化生物学中心和多那那生物学基地的研究团队,在塞尔维亚以及西班牙对22个科的82种鸟类进行了研究。

They focused their attentions on 12 cities in Switzerland and France to find out about the relationship between brain size and survival.

        他们将注意力集中在瑞士和法国12个城市中,为了找出大脑尺寸和存活率之间的关系。

Family traits emerged as the key to understanding brain growth and birds from the same family were more likely to see the change.

         科(Family)特征是弄清楚大脑生长特点的关键,来自同科的鸟类更有可能发现其中的差异。

Species which tend to avoid cities include pied flycathers, reed bunting and whitethroat.

        包括彩色霸鹟、芦鹀、白喉莺在内的鸟类常常避开在城市生存。

Rural dweller: The reed bunting is one of the species which tend to avoid cities

              

        (农村居民说,芦鹀是一种不愿在城市生存的鸟。)

The team also identified some birds with small brains which have survived in the city by finding niches which resemble their natural environment.

       该研究团队还发现,一些大脑较小的鸟类通过找到类似与它们自然生存环境的居所得以在城市中生存。

'We were interested whether behavioural flexibility can increase the chance of a given species to successfully colonise cities,' said Dr Maklakov.

       "我们饶有兴趣的是,是否行为的灵活性能给某个特定的物种增加成功移民进城的机会,",Maklakov博士说。

Previous studies have highlighted the link between larger brains and behavioural innovation in birds and mammals.

       先前的研究已经突显出,在鸟类和哺乳动物中,更大的大脑和行为创新之间的关联。

The new research was published in the journal Biology Letters.

       此项新研究发表在《生物学快报》上。

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