VOA科学技术2023 青蛙可以控制自己的血液流动“消失”

Frog Can Control Its Blood Flow to ‘Disappear’

青蛙可以控制自己的血液流动“消失”

Some frogs found in South and Central America have the unusual ability to turn on and off their nearly clear, or transparent¹, appearance.

在南美洲和中美洲发现的一些蛙类具有不同寻常的能力，能够打开和关闭它们近乎透明的外表。

During the day, these frogs sleep by going underneath² tree leaves. Their small bodies do not create shadows, making them almost invisible to birds and other predators³ that might consider them food.

白天，这些青蛙在树叶下睡觉。它们的小身体不会产生阴影，使它们几乎不被鸟类和其他可能认为它们是食物的捕食者所察觉。

But when northern glass frogs wake up and move in search of insects and mates, they take on a partly clear, reddish-brown color.

但是，当北方玻璃蛙醒来并移动寻找昆虫和配偶时，它们呈现出部分清晰的红棕色。

Researchers recently published the findings in Science.

研究人员最近在《科学》杂志上发表了这一发现。

Junjie Yao of Duke University was a co-writer of the study.

杜克大学的姚俊杰是这项研究的共同作者。

"When they're transparent, it's for their safety," Yao said about the frogs.

“当它们是透明的，这是为了它们的安全，”姚明谈到青蛙时说。

When the creatures are awake, they can escape predators. But when they are sleeping, they are more likely to be eaten. Yao explained, "They have adapted to remain hidden."

当这些生物清醒时，它们可以逃脱捕食者。但当它们睡觉时，它们更有可能被吃掉。姚明解释道：“他们已经适应了隐藏。”

Adapt means to change one's appearance or behavior in order to live in a place or situation.

适应意味着改变一个人的外表或行为，以便生活在一个地方或环境中。

Using light and special imaging technology, the researchers discovered the frogs' secret. While asleep, the frogs move, or "hide," nearly 90 percent of their red blood cells in their liver.

利用光线和特殊的成像技术，研究人员发现了青蛙的秘密。睡觉时，青蛙会移动或“隐藏”肝脏中近90%的红细胞。

Because they have clear skin and other tissue, it is the blood moving through their bodies that would otherwise give them away.

因为它们有透明的皮肤和其他组织，所以血液在它们体内流动，否则它们就会被泄露出去。

The frogs also shrink and pack together most of the organs inside their body, Yao said.

姚说，青蛙也会收缩，将体内大部分器官聚集在一起。

The research "beautifully explains" how "glass frogs conceal⁴ blood in the liver to maintain transparency," said Juan Manuel Guayasamin of University San Francisco of Quito, Ecuador. He was not involved in the study.

厄瓜多尔基多旧金山大学的胡安·曼努埃尔·瓜亚萨明（Juan Manuel Guayasamin）表示，这项研究“完美地解释”了“玻璃蛙如何将血液隐藏在肝脏中以保持透明度”。他没有参与这项研究。

Exactly how the frogs carry out these changes, and why it does not kill them, remains⁵ unknown. For most animals, having very little blood for several hours would be deadly. But somehow, the frogs survive.

青蛙究竟是如何进行这些变化的，以及为什么它不会杀死它们，仍然不得而知。对于大多数动物来说，几个小时内血液很少是致命的。但不知怎么的，青蛙活了下来。

Further research on the species could provide useful information for the development of medicines that prevent blood from clotting⁶, said Carlos Taboada of Duke University, a co-writer of the study.

杜克大学（Duke University）的卡洛斯·塔博达（Carlos Taboada）是这项研究的共同作者之一，他表示，对该物种的进一步研究可以为开发防止血液凝固的药物提供有用的信息。

Only a few animals, mostly creatures that live in the ocean, are naturally transparent, said Oxford⁷ University biologist Richard White, who was not involved in the study. "Transparency is super rare in nature, and in land animals, it's essentially⁸ unheard of outside of the glass frog," White said.

牛津大学生物学家理查德·怀特（Richard White）表示，只有少数动物，主要是生活在海洋中的生物，是天然透明的。怀特没有参与这项研究。怀特说：“透明度在自然界中非常罕见，在陆地动物中，除了玻璃蛙之外，这基本上是闻所未闻的。”。

Those that are transparent include some fish, shrimp⁹, jellyfish, worms and insects — none of which move large quantities of red blood through their bodies. Frogs seem to be the only creatures able to hide blood while sleeping.

那些透明的动物包括一些鱼、虾、水母、蠕虫和昆虫，它们都不能通过身体输送大量的红色血液。青蛙似乎是唯一能在睡觉时藏血的生物。

White used the term dynamic, meaning always active or changing, to describe the frogs' ability.

怀特用“动态”这个词来形容青蛙的能力，意思是总是活跃或变化。

"It's just this really amazing, dynamic form of camouflage¹⁰," he said.

他说：“这是一种非常惊人的、动态的伪装形式。”。

Words in This Story

transparent – n. able to be seen through

clot– v. to become thick and partly solid : to develop clots¹¹

conceal – v. to hide (something or someone) from sight

camouflage – n. something (such as color or shape) that protects an animal from attack by making the animal difficult to see in the area around it

1 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

2 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

3 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》

4 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 clotting   

v.凝固( clot的现在分词 )；烧结

参考例句：

• The study was also based only on the one anti-clotting drug. 所用抗血栓药物也仅限于一种。 来自互联网
• A plasma protein that is converted into thrombin during blood clotting. 凝血原酶一种血浆蛋白质，在血液凝聚时转化成凝血''。'酵'。''''。'素'。''。 来自互联网

7 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。

10 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

11 clots   

n.凝块( clot的名词复数 )；血块；蠢人；傻瓜v.凝固( clot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• When you cut yourself, blood clots and forms a scab. 你割破了，血会凝固、结痂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Milk clots when it turns sour. 奶变酸就凝块。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》