研究：奶牛會(huì)互相交談，包括關(guān)于食物的

研究：奶牛會(huì)互相交談，包括關(guān)于食物的

Cows are able to “commooonicate” with each other, a startling new study says.

一項(xiàng)令人吃驚的新研究表明，奶牛之間能夠“交流”。

Published in Scientific Reports in December, the study notes that Holstein-Fresian heifer cattle are able to communicate with one another, using their own distinct moos. The researchers, including lead researcher Alexandra Green, took 333 samples of cow vocalizations and analyzed them using acoustic analysis programs. They discovered the cows are able to give cues in certain situations and express different emotions, including excitement, arousal, engagement and distress.

去年12月發(fā)表在《科學(xué)報(bào)告》(Scientific Reports)上的這項(xiàng)研究指出，霍爾斯坦-弗瑞斯(Holstein-Fresian)的小母牛能夠利用自己獨(dú)特的哞哞聲彼此交流。包括首席研究員亞歷山德拉·格林在內(nèi)的研究人員采集了333個(gè)奶牛發(fā)聲的樣本，并使用聲學(xué)分析程序進(jìn)行了分析。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，奶牛能夠在特定情況下給出線索，并表達(dá)不同的情緒，包括興奮、覺(jué)醒、參與和悲傷。

“We found that cattle vocal individuality is relatively stable across different emotionally loaded farming contexts,” Green said in a statement.

格林在一份聲明中說(shuō):“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，在不同的情緒農(nóng)場(chǎng)環(huán)境中，牛的聲音個(gè)性相對(duì)穩(wěn)定。”

Positive signs were seen when the females were in heat and when there was anticipation of being fed. Negative contexts were spotted when they were denied access to food and during “physical and visual isolation from the rest of the herd.”

當(dāng)母象處于發(fā)情期和期待被喂食時(shí)，就會(huì)出現(xiàn)積極的信號(hào)。當(dāng)母象被拒絕進(jìn)食時(shí)，以及“在身體和視覺(jué)上與其他象群隔離”時(shí)，就會(huì)出現(xiàn)消極的信號(hào)。

Cameron Clark, one of the study’s co-authors and Green’s academic supervisor, praised her research. “Ali’s research is truly inspired,” Clark said in the statement. “It is like she is building a Google translate for cows.”

該研究的共同作者之一、格林的學(xué)術(shù)導(dǎo)師卡梅倫?克拉克(Cameron Clark)稱贊了她的研究。“阿里的研究確實(shí)很有啟發(fā)，”克拉克在聲明中說(shuō)。“這就像她在為奶牛建立一個(gè)谷歌翻譯。”

Previous research had revealed cows and their calves are able to communicate by keeping individuality in their lowing (the vocal sounds made by cattle), but Green’s research indicates that the individuality is kept throughout their entire lives and spread across the herd.

之前的研究表明，奶牛和它們的幼崽能夠通過(guò)保持它們的低鳴聲(牛發(fā)出的聲音)進(jìn)行交流，但格林的研究表明，這種低鳴聲貫穿它們的一生，并在整個(gè)群體中傳播。

“Cows are gregarious, social animals,” Green added. “In one sense it isn’t surprising they assert their individual identity throughout their life and not just during mother-calf imprinting. But this is the first time we have been able to analyze voice to have conclusive evidence of this trait.”

“牛是群居動(dòng)物，”格林補(bǔ)充道。“從某種意義上說(shuō)，他們?cè)谝簧袌?jiān)持自己的個(gè)性并不奇怪，而不僅僅是在母牛犢的印記中。但這是我們第一次能夠通過(guò)分析聲音來(lái)得出這一特征的確鑿證據(jù)。”

Green hopes that her research will be used by farmers and integrated into their routines to better understand their animals and improve their well being.

格林希望她的研究能被農(nóng)民使用，并融入他們的日常生活，以更好地了解他們的動(dòng)物，改善他們的生活。

“Individual distinctiveness is likely to attract social support from conspecifics, and knowledge of these individuality cues could assist farmers in detecting individual cattle for welfare or production purposes,” the researchers wrote in the study’s abstract.

研究人員在研究摘要中寫道:“個(gè)體的獨(dú)特性可能會(huì)吸引同類的社會(huì)支持，了解這些個(gè)體特征的線索可能有助于農(nóng)民發(fā)現(xiàn)個(gè)體牛的福利或生產(chǎn)目的。”