南极岛屿上罕见的黑化企鹅

 　　Rare black penguin¹ in the Antarctic islands

　　The penguin, believed to be suffering from a condition known as melanism, was spotted² on Fortuna Bay, a sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, about 860 miles off the Falklands.

　　这只被认为患有黑化症的企鹅出现在距离福兰克群岛860英里远的南乔治亚岛亚南极岛屿的褔图纳湾上。

　　A group of travellers had travelled to the island to watch local wildlife and one of the group, Andrew Evans, took this picture of the penguin, one of several thousand.

　　一群游客来到这座岛上观察当地的野生动物，其中一人，也就是安德鲁·埃文斯，拍下了这几千只里才出一只的企鹅。

　　“Observing this black penguin waddle³ across South Georgia's black sand beach revealed no different behaviour than that of his fellow penguins⁴. In fact, he seemed to mix well,” he wrote on a National Geographic⁵ blog.

　　他在《国家地理》的博客上写道：“这只蹒跚在南乔治亚岛的黑沙滩上的黑企鹅看起来和它的同伴们无异。其实它似乎还与同伴们相处得不错。”

　　“Regarding feeding and mating behaviour there is no real way to tell, but I do know that we were all fascinated by his presence and wished him the best for the coming winter season.”

　　“就进食和交配行为而言没看出有什么特别的，但它的外表的确看呆了我们，希望它能度过一个愉快的冬季。”

　　Biology experts say that because black penguins are particularly rare there is very little research discussing the subject.

　　生物学专家说，由于黑色企鹅非常罕见，所以这方面的研究也很少。

　　Melanism is however, common on other animal species such as squirrels.

　　然而黑化症在其他物种上很常见，比如松鼠。

　　It is estimated that about one in every 250,000 penguins shows evidence of the condition.

　　据估计，25万只企鹅中仅有一只会出现黑化症状。

　　Ecology and Evolutionary⁶ Biology expert Dr Allan Baker⁷, from the University of Toronto, said the Antarctic penguin was black because it had lost control of its pigmentation patterns.

　　多伦多大学的生物学与生态进化学家艾伦·贝克博士称南极地区的黑色企鹅是因为失去了自身的色素构成。

　　After being shown the pictures by National Geographic, Dr Baker, also the head of the Department of Natural History at the Royal Ontario Museum, described them as “astonishing”.

　　贝克博士看过《国家地理》上刊登的照片后，身为安大略皇家博物馆自然历史部负责人的他只能用“吃惊”两个字来形容它们。

　　"I've never ever seen that before,” he told the magazine.

　　他告诉杂志：“我以前从未见过这般奇景。”

　　“It's a one in a zillion kind of mutation⁸ somewhere. The animal has lost control of its pigmentation patterns. Presumably it's some kind of mutation.”

　　“某种程度上，这也是无数种变异中的一种。它失去自身的色素构成能力，也可以说是一种变异。”

　　According to the Encyclopaedia⁹ Britannica, the condition is the darkness in an animal’s skin, feathers, or fur is acquired by populations living in an industrial region where the environment is soot-darkened. It can be gene¹⁰ related.

　　根据大英百科全书上所述的，这一现象是居住在工业区的动物受到暗沉煤烟的附着，皮肤、羽毛或毛皮中沉淀了黑色素，也可能和基因有关。

　　It does, however, mean that the probability that its members will survive and reproduce is enhance.The condition evolves over the course of several generations.

　　但它确实意味着，几代的演变过程后,其成员生存和繁殖的概率是提高。

　　But due to being lighter¹¹ in colour, they become more conspicuous¹² to predators¹³.

　　但由于(周围)颜色较浅，他们变得更加突出。

1 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

2 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

3 waddle   

vi.摇摆地走；n.摇摆的走路(样子)

参考例句：

• I am pregnant.I waddle awkwardly and my big stomach pressed against the weight of the world. 我怀孕了，我滑稽可笑地瞒珊而行，大肚子上压着全世界的重量。
• We waddle and hop and have lots of fun.我们走起路来摇摇摆摆，还一跳一跳的。我们的生活很有趣。

4 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 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。

7 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

8 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

9 encyclopaedia   

n.百科全书

参考例句：

• An encyclopaedia contains a lot of knowledge.百科全书包含很多知识。
• This is an encyclopaedia of philosophy.这是本哲学百科全书。

10 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

11 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

12 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

13 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》