關于袋熊你不知道的8件事

所屬教程:英語漫讀

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2020年01月17日

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8 things you didn't know about wombats

關于袋熊你不知道的8件事

Wombats are marsupials found only in Australia, but the short, stubby-legged animals are rarely held in the same regard as other native animals like koalas and kangaroos.

袋熊是一種只有在澳大利亞才能找到的有袋類動物，但這種短而粗腿的動物很少像考拉和袋鼠等其他本土動物那樣受到重視。

A wombat walks in Maria Island National Park in Australia. (Photo: JJ Harrison, [email protected] [CC BY-SA 3.0]/Wikimedia Commons)

However, these adorable creatures deserve some much-deserved recognition. In honor of these under-appreciated marsupials, here are eight things you might not know about wombats.

然而，這些可愛的動物應該得到一些應得的認可。為了紀念這些不被重視的有袋類動物，這里有八件關于袋熊你可能不知道的事情。

1. There are three species of wombats: common wombats, northern hairy-nosed wombats and southern hairy-nosed wombats. While there are thousands of common and southern hairy-nosed wombats in the wild, the northern hairy-nosed wombat is critically endangered.

袋熊有三種:普通袋熊、北方的毛鼻袋熊和南方的毛鼻袋熊。普通袋熊和野生的南方毛鼻袋熊數(shù)以千計，而北方毛鼻袋熊則瀕臨滅絕。

2. When it comes to mating, southern hairy-nosed females tend to bite a male's bottom when they're most fertile. Researchers hope this recent discovery will help captive breeding efforts to ensure the species' survival.

在交配的時候，南方毛鼻袋熊雌性在最能生育的時候會咬雄性的屁股。研究人員希望這一最新發(fā)現(xiàn)將有助于圈養(yǎng)繁殖努力，以確保該物種的生存。

Wombats prefer to live in wet, forested areas near the coastline in Australia. (Photo: Charles Meeks [CC BY-ND 2.0]/Flickr)

3. Most Australians have never seen a wombat in the wild because the animals spend most of the daylight hours in their burrows.

大多數(shù)澳大利亞人從未在野外見過袋熊，因為袋熊白天大部分時間都呆在洞穴里。

4. Although their wide bodies and stubby legs give them the appearance of being slow-moving, wombats can run up to 25 mph over short distances.

盡管它們寬大的身體和短粗的腿讓它們看起來行動緩慢，但袋熊在短距離內(nèi)可以跑到每小時25英里。

Wombats spend between three to eight hours a day eating. (Photo: Andy Tyler [CC BY-ND 2.0]/Flickr)

5. Wombats produce cube-shaped poop pellets. The peculiar shape is a result of the dryness of the animal’s feces. Wombats are known for having the driest poop of any mammal, a result of their long digestive process, which can take 14 to 18 days. This lengthy process allows wombats to absorb the maximum amount of nutrients from their food. Their intestine walls also play a role. The walls stretch unevenly as the poop slowly moves through — thus causing the feces to be cube shaped.

袋熊的糞便呈立方體。這種奇怪的形狀是動物糞便干燥的結果。袋熊以擁有哺乳動物中最干燥的糞便而聞名，這是它們長時間消化過程的結果，這一過程可能需要14到18天。這個漫長的過程使袋熊能夠從食物中吸收最多的營養(yǎng)。它們的腸壁也起作用。當糞便緩慢通過時，糞便壁就會不均勻地拉伸，從而導致糞便呈立方體形狀。

6. Their incisors never stop growing — kind of like guinea pigs — and wombats keep their teeth to a suitable length by chowing down on grasses, bark and roots.

它們的門牙從未停止生長——有點像豚鼠——而袋熊通過咀嚼青草、樹皮和樹根來保持牙齒的合適長度。

The gestation period is only between 20 to 22 days. (Photo: Will Keightley [CC BY-SA 2.0]/Flickr)

7. While other marsupials have pouches that open at the top toward the mother's head, wombats have backwards pouches. Wombats are burrowing animals, so a backwards-facing pouch prevents soil from falling onto its young.

其他有袋類動物的育兒袋是向母親頭部上方張開的，而袋熊的育兒袋是向后的。袋熊是穴居動物，所以背向的袋子可以防止泥土落到它的幼仔身上。

8. Wombats are adept at tunneling. Often their networks of burrows — called warrens — are used by other animals seeking refuge underground. They most recently gained attention for sharing their homes, albeit accidentally, with animals escaping wildfires in Australia.

袋熊擅長挖隧道。它們的洞穴網(wǎng)絡通常被其他動物用來在地下尋求庇護。最近，他們因為和動物們一起躲避澳大利亞的野火而引起了人們的注意，盡管是偶然的。

Their burrow entrances are often just large enough for one animal. When an animal such as a dingo attacks a wombat, the marsupial simply turns around and uses its backside as a shield. The animals' rears are covered with thick, tough skin, and wombats have very small tails, making them difficult to grab onto.

它們的洞穴入口通常只夠容納一只動物。當像澳洲野狗這樣的動物攻擊袋熊時，袋熊只是轉過身來，用它的背部作為盾牌。這種動物的屁股上覆蓋著厚厚的、堅韌的皮膚，而袋熊的尾巴非常小，很難抓住。

Check out more photos below to see just how cute wombats are.

看看下面的更多照片，看看袋熊有多可愛。