时差N小时 蝴蝶是如何进化来的(下)

Although, bats and moths¹ certainly had an evolutionary² arms race.

尽管如此，蝙蝠和飞蛾的确在进化上展开了一场军备竞赛。

Bats used echo location to hunt moths and moths responded by adapting the capacity to detect those sonic pulses.

蝙蝠利用回声定位来捕捉飞蛾，而飞蛾则通过调整探测这些声波脉冲的能力来做出反应。

So, bats developed new frequencies that the moths couldn't detect as well,

蝙蝠发明了新的频率，而蛾子却无法探测到，

but new moths were able to transmit sounds that threw off the bats' measurements, or signaled that the moths were poisonous.

但是新的蛾子能够传递出超出蝙蝠测量范围的声音，或者是蛾子有毒的信号。

Regardless of how fiercely bats and moths have tried to outgun each other, that can't have pushed butterflies to the daytime,

不管蝙蝠和飞蛾如何激烈地竞争，这都不能使蝴蝶生长在白天，

since bats didn't develop echolocation until 50 million years after butterflies showed up.

因为蝙蝠直到蝴蝶出现后的5000万年才发展出回声定位。

It's most likely that butterflies moved into the daytime to find more nectar from flowers that open during that time.

蝴蝶很有可能是为了从那时开放的花朵中寻找更多的花蜜而开始在白天活动。

Eventually, butterflies shed their drab ancestral coloring and evolved coats of vibrant³ colors

最终，蝴蝶褪去了它们祖先单调的颜色，进化出了鲜艳的颜色。

that advertise to mates and also send warnings to predators⁴.

蝴蝶用这些颜色来吸引配偶，也向捕食者发出警告。

1 moths   

n.蛾( moth的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moths have eaten holes in my wool coat. 蛀虫将我的羊毛衫蛀蚀了几个小洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The moths tapped and blurred at the window screen. 飞蛾在窗帘上跳来跳去，弄上了许多污点。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

3 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

4 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》