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Wander through the forests of southeast Asia, and you might suddenly wonder if there's a movie theatre nearby.
穿梭于东南亚的森林中，你可能会突然疑惑这附近是不是有一家电影院。
That's because parts of Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia are home to the binturong
这是因为泰国、马来西亚、越南和印尼部分地区是熊狸的家园
— a cat-like carnivore with pee that smells like buttered popcorn. Yum?
这是一种像猫一样的食肉动物，它们闻起来就像是奶油爆米花一样。是不是很美味？
Binturongs—or bearcats as they're sometimes called, though they aren't closely related to bears or cats
熊狸，和它们的名字一样，虽然它们并不是熊或猫的近亲
like to hang out high in the trees of dense forests where they can avoid ground-dwelling predators while they snack on fruit, insects, small rodents, or leaves.
它们喜欢在茂密的树丛高处闲逛，这样，当它们吃水果、昆虫、小型啮齿动物或树叶时就可以躲过寄居地面的捕食者。
They're covered in shaggy, black fur with long, goofy tufts behind their ears,
它们身穿蓬乱的黑色皮毛，耳边还有着一撮又笨又长的毛，
and they have grasping or prehensile tails which they use to clamber along branches.
它们的卷尾用来攀爬。
But probably their most distinctive feature is their popcorn-y smell — which mostly comes from the urine they use to mark their territories.
但是它们最显著的特征可能是它们爆米花一样的味道—这种味道来自于用于标记领土的尿液。
They leave scent marks by squatting and spraying urine onto their legs and bushy tail and then rubbing those onto nearby branches.
它们将尿液撒在腿上和浓密的尾巴上，然后擦到附近的枝干上，这样就留下了它们的臭迹。
They can also use a specialized gland near their anus called the perineal gland for this,
它们还可以利用肛门附近的一种特殊腺体—会阴腺来做标记，
but researchers think the scents released from there are different and less appetizing.
但是研究人员认为从这个地方释放出的味道不同且没那么好闻。
The tasty smell of their pee is thanks to a chemical is called 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, or just 2-AP for short.
尿液中好闻的味道来自于一种化学物质—2-乙酰基-1-吡咯啉，简称2-AP。
It's an organic heterocyclic aroma compound and an imine,
这是一种有机杂环香味化合物以及一种亚胺，
which is basically just a fancy chemistry way of saying it's a chemical that has a smell, contains carbon atoms,
这只是在用一种奇妙化学方式告诉大家：这是一种有味道的化学物质，里边含有碳原子，
has a circular structure made from multiple elements, and there's a double bond with a nitrogen atom thrown in somewhere.
有一种来自于多种元素的环状构造，并且里边还有一种带有氮原子的双键。
In popcorn, 2-AP forms when high heat causes a reaction between the kernel's sugars and amino acids
在爆米花中，当高热度在谷粒的糖分和氨基酸之间产生反应时，就会形成 2-AP ，
— a chemical process known as the Maillard reaction.
这种化学过程被称为美拉德反应。
But binturongs aren't exactly caramelizing their pee, so biologists aren't sure how they make it,
但是熊狸的尿液中并没有焦糖，所以生物学家也不确定为什么会有这样香味，
though they think bacteria in the gut or near the urethral opening might be involved.
虽然他们认为内脏中或尿道口附近的细菌可能起到作用。
It's also possible other compounds contribute to the buttery aroma,
可能有其他化学物质增添了这种奶油般的香味，
but when researchers identified a bunch of different components of binturong urine in 2016, 2-AP was the only one found in all of the samples.
但是2016年当研究人员对熊狸尿液中的不同成分进行鉴定时，2-AP是他们在所有样本中发现的唯一物质。
And it hung around at room temperature, meaning it would probably also hang around for a while on a tree.
这种味道在常温下飘散，意味着也可能会在树上徘徊一阵子。
What's really interesting, though, is that male binturong urine had a lot more 2-AP than female urine.
真正有趣的是雄性熊狸的尿液比雌性的尿液含有更多的2-AP。
And researchers were able to link the level of 2-AP in an animal's urine to the amount of the sex hormone androstenedione swishing around in their blood.
研究人员可以将动物尿液中的2-AP含量与它们血液中性激素雄烯二酮相联系。
Males have more of this hormone in their blood than females overall,
雄性血液中的这种荷尔蒙含量总体对于雌性，
but levels of it increase in females when they're in heat — right when they're most fertile.
但是雌性体内的这种荷尔蒙的含量会在发情期—当它们生育时增加。
That means other binturongs might be able to tell whether there's a territorial male or a female ready for mating nearby
那意味着其他熊狸可以辨别附近是否是某只雄性的领地或者这附近的雌性是否要交配了
all from how popcorn-y the branch they're scurrying on smells!
这些都来自于树枝上它们留下的爆米花味道！
And while knowing what's behind the binturong's unique buttery smell is pretty cool all by itself,
虽然知道熊狸独特奶油味道背后的原因是件很酷的事情，
it might also be kind of important because binturong populations have declined more than 30% over the last couple of decades.
但是对其本身而言也非常重要，因为熊狸数量在过去几十年中下降超过30%。
So if 2-AP puts these vulnerable animals in the mood or signals when a female is fertile,
因此如果2-AP能让这些脆弱的动物在雌性交配时兴致勃勃，
it could help conservationists breed them in captivity.
那么就可以帮助环境保护主义者人工驯养孵化它们。
And that could help ensure these wonderfully weird animals keep forests smelling like popcorn for centuries to come.
这能确保在接下来的几个世纪中，这些惊奇怪异的动物可以让森林保持这种爆米花的味道。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow!
感谢收看本期《科学秀》！
If you love learning weird facts like this about the universe, you should stick around!
如果你喜欢了解关于这个宇宙的怪异真相，可以观看更多视频！
You can head over to YouTube.com/SciShow and subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode.
你可以前往YouTube.com/SciShow订阅我们的频道。
