科学美国人60秒 SSS 世界上居住得最高的哺乳动物生活在火山上

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Julia Rosen.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是朱莉娅·罗森。

In 2013 two mountaineers were nearing the top of Volcán Llullaillaco, a 22,000-foot-tall volcano on the border of Chile and Argentina—when they saw something unexpected.

2013年，两名登山者即将登上智利和阿根廷边境上海拔2.2万英尺高的尤耶亚科火山山顶时，看到了意到不到的东西。

Just 2,000 feet below the summit, the climbers spotted¹ a mouse scurrying² across the snow.

就在山顶下2000英尺处，登山者发现一只老鼠在雪地里疾驰。

"It's really a remarkable³ sighting, because no one expected wild mammals to be living at an elevation⁴ of over 20,000 feet.

“这真是非凡的目击，因为此前没人想到野生哺乳动物会生活在海拔超过2万英尺的地方。

At that elevation, the scarcity⁵ of oxygen makes it really a challenging place to survive and function.

在那个海拔高度，氧气的匮乏使该地的生存和运作极具挑战性。

But also, the extreme cold. It's an extremely inhospitable environment."

还有极端寒冷。这是极其不适宜居住的环境。”

Jay Storz, an evolutionary⁶ biologist at the University of Nebraska.

内布拉斯加大学的进化生物学家杰伊·斯托兹说到。

The climbers reached out to Storz because he studies how animals adapt to high altitudes.

登山者联系了斯托兹，因为他研究动物如何适应高海拔。

And he was so intrigued⁷ that he decided⁸ to make his own trip to survey the area.

他对此非常感兴趣，于是决定自己去那个地区进行考察。

Storz and his colleagues spent a month at Llullaillaco earlier this year, where they confirmed what the climbers saw.

今年早些时候，斯托兹及其同事在尤耶亚科山火山待了一个月，他们证实了登山者所看到的情况。

They found mice everywhere, including on the summit—officially setting a new record for the world's highest-dwelling mammal.

他们发现老鼠无处不在，包括山顶上——这正式创下了世界上居住最高的哺乳动物的新纪录。

Storz says the summit sighting was fortuitous.

斯托兹表示，在山顶上看见老鼠是偶然的。

His climber partner, Mario Pérez Mamani, saw the mouse dive under a rock just as Storz made it to the top, exhausted⁹ and groggy¹⁰ from the thin air.

他的登山伙伴马里奥·佩雷斯·马马尼在斯托兹成功登顶时看到那只老鼠冲到了岩石下面，当时斯托兹筋疲力尽，因空气稀薄而头晕目眩。

It took Storz a minute to gather his wits, but he eventually managed to catch the mouse with his hands.

斯托兹费了一分钟才恢复意识，但最终还是成功用手抓住了老鼠。

Storz collected that mouse and others as museum specimens¹¹ that will enable future scientific analysis.

斯托兹收集了这只老鼠和其他老鼠作为博物馆标本，以便将来进行科学分析。

They also recorded their encounter on video. The report is in the Proceedings¹² of the National Academy of Sciences.

他们还用视频记录了他们的遭遇。这项报告发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》上。

Now that he's home, Storz wants to understand how these mice can survive in such harsh conditions

现在斯托兹已返回家中，他想了解这些老鼠如何在如此恶劣的条件下生存，

and, conversely, what prevents other animals from venturing so high.

反过来说，是什么阻止了其他动物冒险到如此高的地方。

"Clearly, the mice that are living at these extreme altitudes have physiological¹³ capacities that are very different from your typical rodent¹⁴."

“很明显，生活在这些极端海拔的老鼠，其生理机能与普遍的啮齿动物大不相同。”

He and his colleagues are comparing the genomes of the mice from Llullaillaco to their lowland relatives

他和同事正在比较尤耶亚科火山的老鼠和其低地近亲的基因组，

to see if they can identify the animal's high-altitude adaptations.

看看是否能确定这种老鼠的高原适应能力。

He's curious whether they have evolved some of the same strategies as mice that live at high elevations¹⁵ in North America and the Himalayas.

他很好奇它们是否进化出了与生活在北美和喜马拉雅山高海拔地区的老鼠相同的策略。

Storz also wants to know how mice are finding food on top of a barren, rocky volcano, thousands of feet above the highest green plants.

斯托兹还想知道老鼠如何在一座贫瘠的岩石火山顶寻找食物，其山顶比最高的绿色植物高出数千英尺。

On his next trip, he plans to analyze¹⁶ the stomach contents of the animals they capture.

他计划在下次旅行中分析他们所捕获动物的胃内容物。

"It's really an open question whether most species—whether their elevational¹⁷ limit is set by physiological tolerance¹⁸ or just the lack of ecological¹⁹ opportunity.

“大多数物种的海拔极限是由其生理耐受性决定，还是仅仅因为缺乏生态机会，这确实是个悬而未决的问题。

It's probably a combination of both."

可能二者兼有。”

Whatever the answer, Storz suspects there may be more high-altitude animals out there than scientists thought.

无论答案是什么，斯托兹都怀疑那里可能存在比科学家想象的更多的高海拔动物。

It's just a matter of climbing high enough to find them.

只要爬到足够高的地方就能发现它们。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Julia Rosen.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是朱莉娅·罗森。

1 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。

2 scurrying   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We could hear the mice scurrying about in the walls. 我们能听见老鼠在墙里乱跑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We were scurrying about until the last minute before the party. 聚会开始前我们一直不停地忙忙碌碌。 来自辞典例句

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 elevation   

n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高

参考例句：

• The house is at an elevation of 2,000 metres.那幢房子位于海拔两千米的高处。
• His elevation to the position of General Manager was announced yesterday.昨天宣布他晋升总经理职位。

5 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

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 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。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

10 groggy   

adj.体弱的；不稳的

参考例句：

• The attack of flu left her feeling very groggy.她患流感后非常虚弱。
• She was groggy from surgery.她手术后的的情况依然很不稳定。

11 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

13 physiological   

adj.生理学的，生理学上的

参考例句：

• He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。

14 rodent   

n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的

参考例句：

• When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜，这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
• This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。

15 elevations   

（水平或数量）提高( elevation的名词复数 )； 高地； 海拔； 提升

参考例句：

• Weight of the crust changes as elevations are eroded and materials are deposited elsewhere. 当高地受到侵蚀，物质沉积到别的地方时，地壳的重量就改变。
• All deck elevations are on the top of structural beams. 所有甲板标高线均指结构梁顶线。

16 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

17 elevational   

（水平或数量）提高( elevation的名词复数 )； 高地； 海拔； 提升

参考例句：

• Weight of the crust changes as elevations are eroded and materials are deposited elsewhere. 当高地受到侵蚀，物质沉积到别的地方时，地壳的重量就改变。
• All deck elevations are on the top of structural beams. 所有甲板标高线均指结构梁顶线。

18 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

19 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.