评论
打印
This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Jason Goldman.
这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是杰森·戈德曼。
Morning in Tanzania. The sun rises over the Ngorongoro Crater.
坦桑尼亚的早晨。太阳在恩戈罗恩戈罗火山口上升起。
The spotted hyenas are beginning their day, while Eve Davidian from Germany's Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research sits nearby in a truck, watching and waiting.
斑点鬣狗开始了新的一天，而来自德国莱布尼兹动物园和野生动物研究所的夏娃·戴维安坐在卡车旁，观察、等待。
The most exciting part of her day is when a male hyena crouches on his hind legs to poop.
她一天中最激动人心的部分是雄性鬣狗用后腿蹲下排便。
"So I did collect a lot of fecal samples, monitor a lot of behavior, spend a lot of time following males on site in Tanzania in the field."
“所以我确实收集了很多粪便样本，监测了很多行为，花了大量时间在野外跟随坦桑尼亚现场的雄性鬣狗。”
Biologists have been monitoring the eight hyena clans of Tanzania's Ngorogoro Crater for twenty-five years.
25年来，生物学家一直在监测坦桑尼亚恩戈罗戈罗火山口的8个鬣狗部落。
They've learned a lot about the species, but there are still some outstanding mysteries.
他们对这个物种已经了解了很多，但仍有一些未解之谜。
"Why is it that high ranking individuals, in particular high ranking males, often are more successful than low ranking males in terms of reproduction?
“为什么高地位的鬣狗，特别是高地位的雄性鬣狗，在繁殖方面往往比低地位的雄性鬣狗更成功?
In spotted hyenas in contrast to many other mammals, males don't fight to access high social rank.
与其他哺乳动物不同，雄性斑点鬣狗不会为了获得更高的社会地位而争斗。
And they also don't fight to access breeding partners.
它们也不会为了获得育种伴侣而争斗。
So it is quite puzzling why high ranking males, if they don't fight and they are not necessarily more attractive to females, why they should be more successful than males of lower social rank?"
所以这很令人费解，如果高地位的雄性不战斗，他们不一定对雌性更有吸引力，那么为什么它们会比社会地位低的雄性更成功?”
In all, Davidian had nearly 400 fecal samples collected from 120 male hyenas.
总计，戴维安从120个雄性鬣狗中收集了近400个粪便样本。
She analyzed the hormones inside of them and discovered that interactions among male hyenas were more stressful for lower ranking males.
她分析了雄性鬣狗体内的荷尔蒙，发现对于地位较低的雄性鬣狗来说，雄性鬣狗之间的互动更有压力。
And as a result, they spent more time alone.
因此，它们独处的时间更多。
The results were published in the journal Functional Ecology.
结果发表在《功能生态学》杂志上。
"And the consequence of that is that lower ranking males, they spend less time courting females
“研究结果表明，地位较低的雄性鬣狗花在求爱上的时间更少，
and are therefore less successful in terms of the number of offspring they produce compared to high ranking males, who spend most of their time courting females."
因此，与地位高的雄性相比，地位较低的雄性在生育后代的数量上就不那么显著，因为地位高的雄性大部分时间都在追求雌性。”
All that time spent alone recovering from stress means that the lower-ranking hyenas aren't spending their time courting females.
地位低的鬣狗光是从压力中恢复过来就会花费很多时间，就意味着它们不会将时间花在讨好雌性鬣狗上。
And the females that they do manage to spend time with are themselves also of lower rank.
而与地位低的鬣狗相处的雌性鬣狗自身的地位也较低。
The researchers think it has to do with the fact that lower-ranking males tend to be newcomers within hyena clans.
研究人员认为，这与较低等级的雄性鬣狗往往是部落中的新人这一事实有关。
It takes time to develop their support networks among other males.
它们需要花费时间在其他雄性中发展支持网络。
"They do have to spend a lot of time building up and maintaining these relationships before they can even think about courting females."
“在考虑向雌性求爱之前，它们确实需要花很多时间来建立和维持这些关系。”
So for male spotted hyenas, it might be that the best path towards romance is to begin with a bromance.
因此，对于雄性斑点鬣狗来说，通向恋爱的最佳途径可能是开始一段兄弟情。
Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Jason Goldman.
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是杰森·戈德曼。
文章为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
