万万想不到：竹子并非大熊猫最理想食物？！

 　　The mystery of why giant pandas are forced to spend 14 hours a day eating foods has finally been solved - they can only digest around 17 per cent of the bamboo they swallow.

　　大熊猫不得不一天14个小时都在进食的谜题近日终于被解开了。它们只能消化大概17%吞食下去的竹子。

　　Researchers found their gut¹ bacteria are not the type for efficiently² breaking down bamboo. In fact they are built to eat meat. The giant panda actually harbours a carnivore-like gut, according to the research published in the journal mBio.

　　研究人员发现大熊猫体内的那种肠道细菌不能有效降解竹子。实际上它们却能消化肉食。据《mBio》期刊报导的研究称，大熊猫其实拥有与肉食者类似的肠道。

　　Pandas are one of the most endangered species on Earth, with only 1,600 animals left in the wild.

　　大熊猫是地球上最濒危的物种之一，野生大熊猫只剩下1600只。

　　万万想不到：竹子并非大熊猫最理想食物？！

　　The study's lead author Zhihe Zhang, director of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China, said: "Unlike other plant-eating animals that have successfully evolved, anatomically specialised digestive systems to efficiently deconstruct fibrous plant matter, the giant panda still retains a gastrointestinal tract³ typical of carnivores.

　　这个研究的第一作者、中国成都大熊猫繁育基地的主任张志和说：“其他植食性动物已经进化成功，构造上有着专门的消化系统能有效地分解植物纤维，然而大熊猫和这些动物不同，它们仍保留着肉食性动物的消化道。”

　　"The animals also do not have the genes⁴ for plant-digesting enzymes⁵ in their own genome. This combined scenario⁶ may have increased their risk for extinction⁷."

　　“大熊猫自身的基因组里还没有植物消化酶的基因。这些综合情况也许会加剧它们灭绝的危机。”

　　Study co-author Doctor Xiaoyan Pang⁸, an associate professor in the School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said: "This result is unexpected and quite interesting, because it implies the giant panda's gut microbiota may not have well adapted to its unique diet, and places pandas at an evolutionary⁹ dilemma¹⁰."

　　这项研究的共同作者、上海交通大学生命科学与技术学院的副教授庞小燕博士指出：“这一研究结果出人意料，而且十分有趣。因为这表明大熊猫的肠道细菌也许没能很好地适应大熊猫特殊的饮食，并让大熊猫陷入进化的困境。”

　　The researchers said that giant pandas evolved from bears that ate both plants and meat, and started eating bamboo exclusively about two million years ago.

　　研究人员们称，大熊猫从杂食性熊进化而来，并在大约两百万年前开始专吃竹子。

　　The animals spend up to 14 hours daily consuming up to 12.5 kilos (27.5 pounds) of bamboo leaves and stems, but can digest only about 17 per cent of it; their faeces is mainly composed of undigested bamboo fragments.

　　大熊猫每天花上14个小时消耗多达12.5公斤（27.5磅）的竹叶和竹竿，但是只能消化大概17%。它们的粪便大多由未消化的竹子残渣组成。

　　The researchers had been intrigued¹¹ by how the animals digest bamboo fibre and extract nutrients¹² from it.

　　研究人员对大熊猫怎么消化竹子纤维，从中获取营养物质很感兴趣。

　　The researchers found that despite their diet, the giant pandas, together with nine captive and seven wild individuals investigated previously¹³, showed extremely low gut microbiota diversity and an overall structure that diverged¹⁴ from non-panda plant-eaters but was similar to carnivorous and omnivorous¹⁵ bears.

　　他们发现尽管它们的饮食如此，这些大熊猫，包括之前被研究的9只圈养大熊猫和7只野生个体，都表现出极低的肠道细菌多样性。而且它们肠道菌整体的结构不同于其他植食性动物，反而和肉食性和杂食性的熊类似。

1 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

2 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

3 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

4 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

5 enzymes   

n. 酶，酵素

参考例句：

• It was said that washing powders containing enzymes remove stains more efficiently. 据说加酶洗衣粉除污更有效。
• Among the enzymes which are particularly effective are pepsin, papain. 在酶当中特别有效的是胃朊酶、木瓜酶。

6 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

7 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

8 pang   

n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷

参考例句：

• She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
• She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

9 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。

10 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

11 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

12 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 diverged   

分开( diverge的过去式和过去分词 )； 偏离； 分歧； 分道扬镳

参考例句：

• Who knows when we'll meet again? 不知几时咱们能再见面！
• At what time do you get up? 你几时起床？

15 omnivorous   

adj.杂食的

参考例句：

• Brown bears are omnivorous,eating anything that they can get their paws on.棕熊是杂食性动物，抓到什么吃什么。
• Man is an omnivorous animal.人是肉类与蔬菜均食用的动物。