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Humans may be one of the smartest animals on the planet, butwhen it comes to remembering where things are, Clark'snutcrackers have us beat.
人类也许是世界上最聪明的动物之一，但说到记忆，克拉克的星鸟比我们人类强多了。
A relative of jays and crows, nutcrackers hide pine seeds in theground each autumn so they have a source of food during the Colorado Rocky Mountain winter.
星鸟属于松鸟和乌鸦的近亲，它在秋天的时候把松子藏在地底下，这样寒冷冬天的就有食物吃了。
They cache as many as 30,000 seeds in 5,000 different locations over a fifteen square mile area.
它们会储存多达30000颗种子，而且是在十五平方公里内的5000个不同位置。
Since they cannot smell the seeds buried in the soil very well, they must use their remarkable spatial memory to find them.
因为不能通过气味辨别埋在土里种子的位置，它们就必须依靠惊人的空间记忆力来找到这些种子。
Nutcrackers are not the only animals that cache food.
不止星鸟会储存食物。
Caching behavior is seen in birds,mammals and even insects.
哺乳动物、鸟类，甚至昆虫都会贮藏东西。
Chickadees store collections of seeds, insects and spiders in the barkof trees or under leaves.
山雀贮存种子，还有树皮和树叶下面的昆虫，蜘蛛。
Red squirrels cut conifer cones from trees and bury them in plant litteron the forest floor.
红松鼠会将针叶树上的果实割下来，然后埋在森林地面的落叶中。
Harvester ants bring seeds back to their nests and store them in chambers,while honey bees save nectar and pollen in their hive.
红蚁会将种子拖到巢穴内并贮存在室内。蜜蜂也是把花蜜和花粉贮存在蜂房里的。
Because nutcrackers are one of the best at remembering cache locations, researchers arestudying them to find out why they have such great memories.
因为星鸟是最擅长记住储存位置的动物之一，研究人员正仔细观察它们，想找出星鸟拥有超强记忆力的原因。
Scientists know that thenutcracker's abilities evolved because of environmental pressure.
科学家明白星鸟的技能是由于环境形成的。
Nutcrackers with poor memoriesdid not likely survive the harsh mountain winters.
记忆力差的星鸟在这么严酷的冬天也许不能生存。
Now researchers want to find out how the brainsof nutcrackers are different from other brains.
现在，研究人员想找出星鸟的大脑有什么不同之处。
They are particularly interested in the hippocampus,a small area of the brain that helps form memories.
他们对海马状突起很有兴趣，那是大脑里帮助记忆的很小一个区域。
Finding out how the nutcracker's brain isdifferent from other species may give us clues to why humans have memory problems.
找出星鸟与其他物种大脑结构的区别也许会给出线索，了解为什么人类记忆会出现各种问题。
It may even lead to a cure for Alzheimer's disease.
甚至能帮助治疗老年痴呆症。
