科学美国人:甲壳虫吃掉乞求食物的幼虫
日期:2013-09-18 11:28

(单词翻译:单击)

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Beetle Busts Brood's Begging By Biting

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甲壳虫吃掉乞求食物的幼虫

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A baby's cries for food might drive a tired parent to aggravation. But some species take more drastic measures. Like the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides—which punishes its pesky children by eating them.

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孩子索要食物的哭声会使得疲惫的父母更加疲惫Y1UNkTe5II。但是有些物种采取更激烈的措施*06__,9F70~6。比如说甲壳虫,它们会吃掉自己讨厌的孩子etxVq.)uB5L*Md

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Researchers wanted to get to the bottom of an age-old question in evolutionary biology: the origin of begging. Natural selection favors a greedy, well-fed child. But it also favors parents who dole out food evenly to their young, and save some for themselves.

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研究人员希望得到进化生物学中一个古老问题的答案:乞讨的来源CW@ru&edeG%。自然选择偏爱贪婪,吃的很好的孩子[&_R=VgV]Z!TvV(dbgBU。但是也偏爱将食物平均分给孩子和自己的父母x)U2;X2=@*70tu;8-

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So how do you resolve that parent-child conflict? Burying beetles do so by putting the ultimate price on pleading: death. Begging larvae were 13 times more likely than laid-back larvae to be eaten by mom. Which may discourage them from asking for more than their fair share of the grub. That finding appears in the journal Behavioral Ecology.

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那么,亲子冲突怎么解决呢?甲壳虫通过恳求的最高代价,死亡,来解决这个问题2]gsPr|jiEw_cbr。乞讨幼虫比无忧无虑的幼虫被母亲吃掉的可能性高13倍5Re.)h=_[~|R)O~@,6~Q。这会让它们放弃索要超出平均值的食物量19#c]ua_;L;[。这一发现发表在《行为生态学》杂志上3IpILGb)@Dp

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Humans have different standards than beetles do, of course. For us, pestering your parents may be a good thing. One study suggests crying is a sign of good health, which might lower a baby's chances of being neglected or abused. Then again, after those first few years, you're probably better off not being a crybaby.

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当然,人类跟甲虫有不同的标准Ew)^B&9Wy=3wl2FWSPl。对我们来说,缠着父母可能是一件好事.g33U-kC+]zM*zP。一项研究表明,哭泣时健康的一个迹象,会降低婴儿被忽视或者虐待的机会hA6pO(L67ZTFFz,H。但是,话又说回来,过了幼儿时期,你最好不要再哭了0+nSklTrjIk=~*

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—Christopher Intagliata

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重点单词
  • broodn. 窝 v. 孵,沉思
  • resolven. 决定之事,决心,坚决 vt. 决定,解决,分离,表
  • evolutionaryadj. 进化的,发展的,演变的
  • pleadingn. 恳求 动词plead的现在分词形式
  • speciesn. (单复同)物种,种类
  • discouragevt. 使气馁,阻碍
  • aggravationn. 更恶化,加厉,恼怒
  • ecologyn. 生态学
  • beetlen. 甲虫 n. 大锥,小木槌 vi. 忙碌地来回,突出
  • evenlyadv. 平衡地,平坦地,平等地