科学美国人60秒 SSS 环尾狐猴用尾巴"臭味调情"吸引异性（在线收听）

This is Scientific American's 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。

When preparing for a date, a human might use a small spritz of cologne or perfume.

准备约会时，人类可能会喷一点古龙水或香水。

And male ring-tailed lemurs also splash on some cologne to impress the females.

雄性环尾狐猴也会通过洒古龙水的方式来给雌性留下深刻印象。

The only difference is they secrete their own scents from glands near their wrists.

唯一的区别是，它们从胸部附近的腺体分泌自己的气味。

And during the breeding season, the males rub the secretions from their wrists onto their tails and then wave the tails near females.

在繁殖季，雄性将腕部的分泌物抹到尾巴上，之后在雌性附近挥动尾巴。

Researchers actually call this behavior "stink flirting."

研究人员将这种行为称为“臭味调情”。

Biologists already knew that lemurs have scent glands and that they use them to communicate their social rank or to identify their territories.

生物学家已经知道环尾狐猴有气味腺体，也知道它们会利用腺体来显示社会等级或确认领地。

Scientists also knew that sometimes males use their scent glands as part of a dominance display against potential rivals.

科学家还知道，有时雄性会用它们的气味腺体向潜在竞争对手展示优势。

But nobody had really looked to see whether the females were relying on the males' scents as part of their mate-selection process.

但并没有人真正注意雌性是否依赖雄性气味作为择偶过程的一部分。

Nobody until Kazushige Touhara, a biological chemist at the University of Tokyo.

而东京大学的生物化学家前原诚司注意到了。

Working at a wildlife laboratory, he and his team collected the secretions from male ring-tailed lemurs' wrist glands twice a month for several years.

数年来，他和团队在野生动物实验室工作期间，每月收集两次雄性环尾狐猴腕部腺体的分泌物。

In an e-mail, he described the males' scent as "fruity and floral."

在一封电子邮件中，他将雄性的气味描述为“果味和花香”。

The researchers identified three chemical compounds in the secretions that were in higher concentrations during the breeding season—

研究人员识别出分泌物中在繁殖季浓度更高的三种化合物，

which suggested that these chemicals, all of which are long-chain fatty aldehydes, might be involved in mating and reproductive behaviors.

这表明均这些均为长链脂肪醛的化学物质，可能与交配和繁殖行为有关。

After identifying the three compounds, the researchers soaked cotton balls in a variety of smelly substances,

分辨出这三种化合物后，研究人员将棉球浸泡在各种气味物质中，

then offered them to female ring-tails.

然后提供给雌性环尾狐猴。

And the lady lemurs spent more time sniffing cotton balls that were infused with the three aldehydes—especially during the breeding season.

雌性花了更多的时间嗅闻浸泡了三种醛的棉球，尤其在繁殖季。

More research is necessary to be sure, but Touhara says this is the first time a sex pheromone has potentially been identified in a primate.

虽然需要更多研究来确认，但前原诚司说这是首次在灵长类动物身上发现性信息素的可能。

The findings are in the journal Current Biology.

这项研究发表在《当代生物学》期刊上。

While none of these three compounds have yet been identified in the secretions of any other primate, they have been found in lamb wool.

虽然其它灵长类动物的分泌物中尚未发现这三种化合物，但人们在羔羊毛中发现了它们。

Their presence implies that these substances might help newborn sheep recognize their mothers.

它们的存在意味着这些物质可能有助于新生绵羊认出自已的母亲。

And one of the chemicals also acts as a sex pheromone in two different types of insects—

其中一种化学物质也在两种不同类型昆虫中起到性信息素的作用，

which means that these kinds of long-chain fatty aldehydes are likely used widely throughout the animal kingdom for social communication.

这意味着这些长链脂肪醛很可能被广泛用于动物界社交。

No wonder they're often used in the colognes and perfumes we humans pay through the nose for.

难怪它们经常被应用于我们人类花大价钱买的古龙水和香水中。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second 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。