第一次全面的回顧揭示了大象是如何與死去的大象互動的

第一次全面的回顧揭示了大象是如何與死去的大象互動的

Although many members of the animal kingdom take an interest in their dead, a few notably intelligent creatures are known for their complex and lengthy interactions with deceased members of their clan. They are primates, whales and dolphins, and elephants. The latter have been observed “mourning” their dead many times, but until now, a comprehensive look at the literature on this topic was lacking.

雖然動物王國的許多成員對他們的死者很感興趣，但有一些非常聰明的生物以他們與他們家族的死者之間復(fù)雜而漫長的互動而聞名。它們是靈長類動物、鯨魚、海豚和大象。后者已經(jīng)被觀察到“哀悼”他們的死亡很多次，但直到現(xiàn)在，一個全面的這個主題的文獻是缺乏的。

A new review published in the journal Primates has assessed previous observations of elephants interacting with their dead to tell us more about the nature of their behavior. Interestingly, the authors note that elephants interact with their dead regardless of the strength of the bond between the living elephant and the deceased individual. This, they write, suggests that elephants have a “generalized interest in their dead.”

發(fā)表在《靈長類動物》雜志上的一篇新評論評估了此前對大象與它們的尸體互動的觀察，以告訴我們更多關(guān)于它們行為的本質(zhì)。有趣的是，作者們注意到，不管活著的大象和死去的大象之間的聯(lián)系有多緊密，大象都會和死去的大象互動。他們寫道，這表明大象“普遍對尸體感興趣”。

Rachel Baxter

The literature review focused on 32 observations from 12 different sources. Eleven of the studies focused on African savanna elephants, while one looked at the rarer African forest elephant. The researchers also conducted their own original observations, studying elephants that visited a dead matriarch known as Victoria in Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve in 2013.

文獻綜述集中在12個不同來源的32個觀察結(jié)果。其中11項研究集中在非洲稀樹草原象身上，而另一項研究則著眼于較為罕見的非洲森林象。研究人員還進行了他們自己的原始觀察，研究了2013年在肯尼亞桑布魯國家保護區(qū)拜訪一位名叫維多利亞的女族長的大象。

"The most commonly recorded behavior of elephants towards their dead included touching, approaching the dead animal and investigating the carcass," said Dr Shifra Goldenberg, from the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, in a statement. Elephants were observed interacting with carcasses at all stages of decay, from freshly dead animals to “scattered and sun-bleached bones.”

圣地亞哥動物園保護研究所和史密森尼保護生物學(xué)研究所的Shifra Goldenberg博士在一份聲明中說:“大象對待尸體最常見的行為記錄包括觸摸、接近動物尸體和調(diào)查尸體。”在大象腐爛的各個階段，從剛死的動物到“散落的、被陽光曬白的骨頭”，大象都被觀察到與尸體相互作用。

"The motivations underlying observed behaviors are hard to know, but clearly varied across circumstances and individuals,” Goldenberg added. “For example, some elephants made repeated visits to a carcass, and it's possible that temporal gland streaming by a young female at the site of her mother's carcass is associated with heightened emotion." An elephant’s temporal glands are modified sweat glands between its eyes and ears that produce an oily secretion.

Goldenberg補充說:“很難知道觀察到的行為背后的動機是什么，但很明顯，在不同的環(huán)境和個人中，動機是不同的。”“例如，一些大象會不斷地去看一具尸體，而年輕的雌象在她母親的尸體旁流過的顳腺很可能與高度的情緒有關(guān)。”大象的顳腺是位于眼睛和耳朵之間的汗腺，它會分泌油脂。

The researchers also note that the animals used their strong sense of smell to identify the dead, and even attempted to lift or pull elephants that had just died. They were also witnessed producing vocalizations at the site of the dead elephant.

研究人員還注意到，這些動物用它們強烈的嗅覺來識別死者，甚至試圖舉起或拉剛死的大象。他們也被目擊到在大象尸體的地方發(fā)聲。

Elephants are remarkably clever beasts. They use tools, show empathy, have highly impressive memories, and are socially complex. They live in matriarchal groups that divide and merge over the years in what is known as a fission-fusion society. They form strong bonds and are able to recognize many other elephants, including, it would seem, those that have died. Future research will tell us more about the funerary behaviors of these awe-inspiring animals and reveal new insights into their unique brains.

大象是非常聰明的動物。他們使用工具，表現(xiàn)出同理心，有非常深刻的記憶，并且具有復(fù)雜的社交能力。他們生活在母系氏族社會中，在一個被稱為分裂-融合的社會中分裂和融合多年。它們之間形成了牢固的紐帶，并且能夠識別許多其他的大象，包括那些看起來已經(jīng)死亡的大象。未來的研究將告訴我們更多關(guān)于這些令人敬畏的動物的喪葬行為，并揭示它們獨特的大腦的新見解。

"Witnessing elephants interact with their dead sends chills up one's spine, as the behavior so clearly indicates advanced feeling," said Dr George Wittemyer, from Save the Elephants and the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University. "This is one of the many magnificent aspects of elephants that we have observed, but cannot fully comprehend."

來自科羅拉多州立大學(xué)“拯救大象”和魚類、野生動物及生物保護系的喬治·維特梅爾博士說:“親眼目睹大象與它們的尸體互動讓人不寒而栗，因為這種行為清楚地表明了一種超前的感覺。”“這是我們觀察到的大象的許多壯觀的方面之一，但無法完全理解。”