時差N小時:米諾魚的自殺式生存策略

Beneath the surface of a pond or stream it's a fish-eat-fish world, and the tiny minnow is often lunchfor larger fish such as pike.

在池塘或溪流的下面是一個魚吃魚的世界。小米諾魚通常都是大魚的午餐。

You'd think a tasty minnow would try to remaininconspicuous, but this isn't always the case.

也許你認為美味的小米諾魚應該藏起來，不被發(fā)覺才對，然而事情并非總是如此。

If a minnow's skin is damaged by an attacking pike,it releases a chemical that attracts more pike.

如果一條小米諾魚被一條梭子魚攻擊劃破了皮，它就會釋放出一種化學物質(zhì)吸引來更多的梭子魚。

Why would a minnow that's already beingattacked want to attract more trouble?

為什么一只已經(jīng)被攻擊的小米諾魚想要引來更多的麻煩呢?

Do injured minnows have some kind of crazy deathwish?

難道那些受傷的小米諾魚們有某個瘋狂的想死的念頭嗎?

This seemingly suicidal behavior is actually a clever survival strategy.

這個看似自殺性的行為實際上卻是一個聰明的生存策略。

The minnow's chemical has two distinct functions.

小米諾魚釋放的化學物質(zhì)有兩大顯著的功能。

First, it warns other minnows about the danger.

首先，它能警告其他小米諾魚這里有危險。

Minnows travel inschools with close relatives, so this chemical alarm warns the others away frompotentially dangerous waters.

通常小米諾魚和自己的近親們成群的游動，于是這種化學警鐘就可以警告其他米諾魚遠離那些潛在的危險水域。

Even if the original minnow is eaten, its brothers and sisters will live tore produce.

即使原先的小米諾魚被吃了，它的兄弟姐妹們也可以活下來繁殖后代。

From a genetic standpoint, this self sacrifice makes sense.

從遺傳學的角度來看，這種自殺式犧牲是可行的。

You might wonder about the chemical's other function though–to attract more pike.

也許你會好奇這個化學物質(zhì)的另一大功能—吸引更多的梭子魚。

A minnow's skin is most likely to be damaged in an attack from a relatively small pike.

小米諾魚被相對較小的梭子魚襲擊時更容易被劃傷皮膚，而大個兒的梭子魚則會將米諾魚們一口吞下。

Larger pike simply swallow their minnows whole.

也就是說，這種化學物質(zhì)將會引來比眼前攻擊者還要大的梭子魚。

Pike have no qualms about eating other pike, so if a bigone sees a smaller pike chasing a tinyminnow, that big pike will go after the larger mouthful,allowing the minnow to escape.

梭子魚對于吃自己的同類完全毫無顧忌，所以如果一條大梭子魚看到一條小梭子魚正在捕食一條小米諾魚，大梭子魚則會追趕小梭子魚一飽口福，而讓小米諾魚獲得一線生機。

It's much like the end of Jurassic Park.

這一切很像《侏羅紀公園》的結(jié)局。

The humans were about to be eaten by evil velociraptors,when the noise of their strugglesummoned a bigger predator:

人類眼看著就要被可怕的暴龍們吃掉，正在這時，他們激烈的爭斗聲召喚出了更大的捕食者：

Tyrannosaurus Rex.

雷克斯霸王龍。

T-rex ate the raptors, allowing the humans to escape.

雷克斯霸王龍吃掉了多倫多暴龍，而讓人類逃出生天。