时差N小时 米诺鱼的自杀式生存策略

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

在池塘或溪流的下面是一个鱼吃鱼的世界。小米诺鱼通常都是大鱼的午餐。

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

也许你认为美味的小米诺鱼应该藏起来，不被发觉才对，然而事情并非总是如此。

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

如果一条小米诺鱼被一条梭子鱼攻击划破了皮，它就会释放出一种化学物质吸引来更多的梭子鱼。

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

为什么一只已经被攻击的小米诺鱼想要引来更多的麻烦呢？

Do injured minnows have some kind of crazy deathwish?

难道那些受伤的小米诺鱼们有某个疯狂的想死的念头吗？

This seemingly suicidal behavior is actually a clever survival strategy.

这个看似自杀性的行为实际上却是一个聪明的生存策略。

The minnow's chemical has two distinct functions.

小米诺鱼释放的化学物质有两大显著的功能。

First, it warns other minnows about the danger.

首先，它能警告其他小米诺鱼这里有危险。

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

通常小米诺鱼和自己的近亲们成群的游动，于是这种化学警钟就可以警告其他米诺鱼远离那些潜在的危险水域。

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

即使原先的小米诺鱼被吃了，它的兄弟姐妹们也可以活下来繁殖后代。

From a genetic¹ standpoint, this self sacrifice makes sense.

从遗传学的角度来看，这种自杀式牺牲是可行的。

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

也许你会好奇这个化学物质的另一大功能—吸引更多的梭子鱼。

A minnow's skin is most likely to be damaged in an attack from a relatively² small pike.

小米诺鱼被相对较小的梭子鱼袭击时更容易被划伤皮肤，而大个儿的梭子鱼则会将米诺鱼们一口吞下。

Larger pike simply swallow their minnows whole.

也就是说，这种化学物质将会引来比眼前攻击者还要大的梭子鱼。

Pike have no qualms³ about eating other pike, so if a bigone sees a smaller pike chasing a tiny minnow, that big pike will go after the larger mouthful,allowing the minnow to escape.

梭子鱼对于吃自己的同类完全毫无顾忌，所以如果一条大梭子鱼看到一条小梭子鱼正在捕食一条小米诺鱼，大梭子鱼则会追赶小梭子鱼一饱口福，而让小米诺鱼获得一线生机。

It's much like the end of Jurassic Park.

这一切很像《侏罗纪公园》的结局。

The humans were about to be eaten by evil velociraptors,when the noise of their struggle summoned a bigger predator⁴:

人类眼看着就要被可怕的暴龙们吃掉，正在这时，他们激烈的争斗声召唤出了更大的捕食者：

Tyrannosaurus Rex.

雷克斯霸王龙。

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

雷克斯霸王龙吃掉了多伦多暴龙，而让人类逃出生天。

1 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 qualms   

n.不安；内疚

参考例句：

• He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.他没有对于从朋友那里借钱感到不安。
• He has no qualms about lying.他撒谎毫不内疚。

4 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。