科学美国人60秒:水獭的公厕社交-托福听力下载

　　科学美国人60秒中文翻译：

　　This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Jason Goldman. 这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是杰森·古德曼。

　　Got a minute? 有一分钟时间吗?

　　River otters, like other social animals, have to carefully weigh the costs and benefits of hanging out in large groups. 水獭和其他群居动物一样，必须仔细权衡一下群居的利与弊。

　　A big group makes it easier to catch fish, which seems like a good deal, but there's a downside to social life too. 群居生活使捕鱼更加容易，这似乎很不错，但是群居对社交生活也有坏处。

　　More otters means more chances for disease transmission, for example, or for aggressive conflict. 更多的水獭意味着疾病传染的几率也就越大，也可能会引发更多的矛盾冲突。

　　So they balance these pressures by living in what researchers call a "fission-fusion society." 所以，他们会通过在“聚散型群体”中的生活来平衡压力。

　　"There's this constant dynamic of splitting and joining into larger groups." “这其实就是不断地分散，然后融入到更大的群体中。”

　　University of Wyoming ecologist Adi Barocas. 阿迪·巴罗卡斯是美国怀俄明大学的生态学家。

　　To understand the factors that drive these social dynamics, 为了了解导致这种社交动态的原因，

　　Barocas's team, from the University of Wyoming and the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, 由怀俄明大学和阿拉斯加渔业和捕猎部门组成的巴罗卡斯的团队，

　　has spent decades spying on the coastal river otters of Alaska near Prince William Sound. 花费数十年的时间对威廉王子湾附近阿拉斯加地区的海岸水獭进行监测。

　　To do it, they use motion-activated camera traps as well as implanted radio trackers. 为了进行观察，他们使用了动态感应照相机捕捉技术以及无线电追踪技术。

　　"The latrines, which are pretty much communal toilets that the river otters use, “这相当于水獭使用的公共厕所，

　　they seem to have an important function in the life of river otters." 看起来它们在水獭的生活中发挥了重要的作用。”

　　That's right: river otter society is organized around the bathroom. It makes good sense. 的确，水獭群是围绕厕所形成的。这很容易理解。

　　By investigating a latrine, an otter can sniff out just how many otters there are in the area, and who they might be. 通过调查公共厕所，一只水獭就可以嗅出还有多少只水獭在这个区域，以及有哪些水獭在这里。

　　The researchers found that the otters performed more signaling behaviors like sniffing, body rubbing, or urinating, than social behaviors, like grooming or play, 研究人员发现，与打扮、玩耍等社交行为相比，水獭会做出更多的信号行为，比如，嗅探、身体摩擦或小便，

　　at what they called crossover latrines, which were located at the junctions of water bodies. 这些行为发生在他们称为交叉公厕的地方，通常这些地方位于水域的汇合处。

　　Thanks to all that communicative signaling, these crossover latrines were also more likely to host fusion events, 得益于所有的交际性信号，这些交叉公厕更有可能举办融合活动，

　　resulting in large aggregations of up to eighteen otters. 最终使多达18只水獭聚集起来。

　　In other words, the otters see latrines as a place to exchange information, a sort of central marketplace. 换句话说，水獭把公厕视为一个交流信息的地方，就像是集市中心一样。

　　Because the location of crossover latrines was determined by the physical landscape, 因为公厕地点是跟据物理地形确定的，

　　this suggests that the complexity of the physical environment plays an important role in determining their social behavior. 所以物理环境的复杂性在决定水獭社交行为上发挥着重要作用。

　　Next, the researchers want to see just how and what the otters communicate at latrines. 接下来，研究人员想知道水獭在公厕的交流方法及交流内容。

　　"We often see the river otters sniffing at the latrines and also defecating, “我们常常发现水獭在公厕嗅来嗅去，同时它们也会排泄，

　　and before defecating they do a little ritualized behavior that we termed 'the poop dance.'" 而在排泄前，它们会做一些仪式化的行为，我们称之为‘排泄之舞'。”

　　What scents are they trying to sniff out? Which olfactory compounds are at play? 它们试图嗅到什么气味呢?哪种嗅觉器官在起作用?

　　Can the otters control the scents they leave behind? Who's watching the poop dance? 水獭能控制它们留下的气味吗?谁会观看这种排泄之舞?

　　And most importantly, why doesn't anybody ever remember to flush? 最重要的是，为什么没有一只水獭想着冲厕所呢?

　　Thanks for the minute for Scientific American — 60-Second Science Science. I'm Jason Goldman. 谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是杰森·古德曼。

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