時(shí)差N小時(shí):米諾魚(yú)的自殺式生存策略

Beneath the surface of a pond or stream it's a fish-eat-fish world, and the tiny minnow is often lunchfor larger fish such as pike.

在池塘或溪流的下面是一個(gè)魚(yú)吃魚(yú)的世界。小米諾魚(yú)通常都是大魚(yú)的午餐。

You'd think a tasty minnow would try to remaininconspicuous, but this isn't always the case.

也許你認(rèn)為美味的小米諾魚(yú)應(yīng)該藏起來(lái)，不被發(fā)覺(jué)才對(duì)，然而事情并非總是如此。

If a minnow's skin is damaged by an attacking pike,it releases a chemical that attracts more pike.

如果一條小米諾魚(yú)被一條梭子魚(yú)攻擊劃破了皮，它就會(huì)釋放出一種化學(xué)物質(zhì)吸引來(lái)更多的梭子魚(yú)。

Why would a minnow that's already beingattacked want to attract more trouble?

為什么一只已經(jīng)被攻擊的小米諾魚(yú)想要引來(lái)更多的麻煩呢?

Do injured minnows have some kind of crazy deathwish?

難道那些受傷的小米諾魚(yú)們有某個(gè)瘋狂的想死的念頭嗎?

This seemingly suicidal behavior is actually a clever survival strategy.

這個(gè)看似自殺性的行為實(shí)際上卻是一個(gè)聰明的生存策略。

The minnow's chemical has two distinct functions.

小米諾魚(yú)釋放的化學(xué)物質(zhì)有兩大顯著的功能。

First, it warns other minnows about the danger.

首先，它能警告其他小米諾魚(yú)這里有危險(xiǎn)。

Minnows travel inschools with close relatives, so this chemical alarm warns the others away frompotentially dangerous waters.

通常小米諾魚(yú)和自己的近親們成群的游動(dòng)，于是這種化學(xué)警鐘就可以警告其他米諾魚(yú)遠(yuǎn)離那些潛在的危險(xiǎn)水域。

Even if the original minnow is eaten, its brothers and sisters will live tore produce.

即使原先的小米諾魚(yú)被吃了，它的兄弟姐妹們也可以活下來(lái)繁殖后代。

From a genetic standpoint, this self sacrifice makes sense.

從遺傳學(xué)的角度來(lái)看，這種自殺式犧牲是可行的。

You might wonder about the chemical's other function though–to attract more pike.

也許你會(huì)好奇這個(gè)化學(xué)物質(zhì)的另一大功能—吸引更多的梭子魚(yú)。

A minnow's skin is most likely to be damaged in an attack from a relatively small pike.

小米諾魚(yú)被相對(duì)較小的梭子魚(yú)襲擊時(shí)更容易被劃傷皮膚，而大個(gè)兒的梭子魚(yú)則會(huì)將米諾魚(yú)們一口吞下。

Larger pike simply swallow their minnows whole.

也就是說(shuō)，這種化學(xué)物質(zhì)將會(huì)引來(lái)比眼前攻擊者還要大的梭子魚(yú)。

Pike have no qualms about eating other pike, so if a bigone sees a smaller pike chasing a tinyminnow, that big pike will go after the larger mouthful,allowing the minnow to escape.

梭子魚(yú)對(duì)于吃自己的同類(lèi)完全毫無(wú)顧忌，所以如果一條大梭子魚(yú)看到一條小梭子魚(yú)正在捕食一條小米諾魚(yú)，大梭子魚(yú)則會(huì)追趕小梭子魚(yú)一飽口福，而讓小米諾魚(yú)獲得一線生機(jī)。

It's much like the end of Jurassic Park.

這一切很像《侏羅紀(jì)公園》的結(jié)局。

The humans were about to be eaten by evil velociraptors,when the noise of their strugglesummoned a bigger predator:

人類(lèi)眼看著就要被可怕的暴龍們吃掉，正在這時(shí)，他們激烈的爭(zhēng)斗聲召喚出了更大的捕食者：

Tyrannosaurus Rex.

雷克斯霸王龍。

T-rex ate the raptors, allowing the humans to escape.

雷克斯霸王龍吃掉了多倫多暴龍，而讓人類(lèi)逃出生天。