地球海洋中十大最强生物(2)
日期:2015-07-17 16:27

(单词翻译:单击)

7.Tiger Shark
7.虎鲨
Tiger sharks are carnivorous fish that get their name from the stripes found on their bodies when they are young. Tiger sharks can grow up to 14 feet in length, and the largest tiger shark every recorded weighed 1,400 pounds. They have very sharp teeth and very powerful jaws. Their bite is so powerful that they can crack the shells of turtles, which is a very difficult feat. Tiger sharks, along with great white sharks and bull sharks, are know for attacking humans. However, because tiger sharks aren't very picky about what they eat, they often kill humans while a great white shark would usually just bite and swim away. A tiger shark's stomach contents has revealed stingrays, seals, birds and even old tires – talk about an unrefined palate!
虎鲨属食肉型鱼类,因幼时身上就长满条纹而得名。虎鲨可长到14英尺长,记录在案的最大的虎鲨重1400英磅。它们有尖利的牙齿和有力的下颚,咬力大到能将海龟壳咬碎,而这绝非一般海洋生物所能做到。虎鲨、大白鲨和牛鲨都因攻击人类而闻名。但是,虎鲨可不挑食,大白鲨通常只是咬一口就游走了,虎鲨却会杀死人类。虎鲨的不挑食绝非浪得虚名,它们会吃黄貂鱼、海豹、海鸟甚至是旧轮胎。

虎鲨

There used to be a myth that these indiscriminate predators could be the cure for cancer. This idea rested on the fact that sharks don't get cancer. In the 1970s, researchers found that cartilage prevented the growth of new vessels in tissue, and these new vessels are one of the key components of cancerous tumors. Because sharks have skeletons made entirely from cartilage, the researchers reasoned that a shark's skeleton would be the best hope for new therapies. This therapy was never proven nor has it been clinically tested in America. But even still, LaneLabs still sells cartilage pills today and the market for shark cartilage was estimated to reach $30 million in 1995. Unfortunately, this has decreased the number of sharks in North America by up to 80 percent, and as it turns out, sharks actually do get cancer.
曾有传言称,这些食肉者们能治疗癌症,因为鲨鱼不会得癌症。20世纪70年代,研究人员发现,软骨组织会抑制新血管的生长,而这些新血管恰恰是构成肿瘤细胞的重要组成部分之一。因为鲨鱼的骨骼完全是由软骨而来,研究人员推断,鲨鱼的骨骼可为新疗法带来希望。但是这一疗法从来没有被证实也没有被美国临床测试过。即使如此,Lane实验室还是出售软骨药丸。据估计,药丸在1995年交易额已达到三千万美元。不幸的是,这使得北美鲨鱼总数下降了80%;而事实证明,鲨鱼也会得癌症。

6.Giant Squid
6.大王乌贼

大王乌贼

Giant squids are some of the most mysterious creatures of the sea as well as being the biggest invertebrate on earth. Measuring around 33 feet, the largest giant squid ever found truly was a giant weighing nearly 2,000 pounds and measuring 59 feet in length. Giant squids are elusive in their natural habitats and difficult to study. Most of what we know about them is from deceased squids that have washed up on beaches. It was not until 2004 that the first images of a live giant squid were taken. Giant squids have been found on beaches all over the world but it is still hard to say how far they swim or what their exact habitats are. These humongous squids also have massive eyes because they live so deep in the ocean that they do not see any light. Little is known about the giant squid but it is possible that when given the chance, they will kill and eat small whales, implying that those massive tentacles must be very strong.
大王乌贼是海洋中最神秘的一类生物,也是地球上最大的无脊椎动物。大王乌贼一般长约10米,最大的大王乌贼则长达18米,重达900千克。大王乌贼在自己的栖息地内总是来无影去无踪,很难加以研究。目前我们只能通过死亡后被海水冲到岸边的乌贼了解其相关信息。直到2004年,才首次拍到活着的大王乌贼影像。我们在世界各地的沙滩上都见到过大王乌贼的身影,但至今仍很难说清楚它们究竟能游多远或者它们的栖息地到底在哪里。这类巨型鱿鱼的眼睛大得惊人,因为它们常年生活在深海,看不见亮光。对于大王乌贼,我们知之甚少,但我们可以推测,如果有机会,它们甚至可以杀死并吃掉幼年鲸鱼,这意味着大王乌贼巨大的触角必须非常强壮。
The sperm whale is one the greatest predators of the giant squid but with their giant eyes, giant squids have an early warning of the approach of their massive predators.
抹香鲸是大王乌贼的捕食性天敌,但大王乌贼有自己的天敌预警方法,它们巨大的双眼可以帮助它们早早发现抹香鲸的靠近。

5.Lion's Mane Jellyfish
5.狮鬃水母

狮鬃水母

One of the only creatures longer than the imagined giant squid is the lion's mane jellyfish, whose tentacles can reach120 feet long. This is longer than the average body of a blue whale! Their bodies are 95 percent water and they have no bones or blood. They don't even have brains. Yet, jellyfish are some of the longest surviving predators swimming in our seas. Jellyfish have been swimming our oceans for about 650 million years, which is before the dinosaurs even stepped onto the Earth. The lion's mane jellyfish will eat fish and even other jellyfish, and they can do this because despite not having brains, they are very powerful swimmers. Their swimming is what allows them to get away from predators and also to hunt and kill their own food. Unlike other sea creatures, jellyfish do not have teeth. They use their tentacles to poison and paralyze their prey before swallowing it whole.
唯一比想象中的大王乌贼还要长的海洋生物就是狮鬃水母了。其触须长度可达36米,这可比蓝鲸的平均体长还要长!狮鬃水母体内含水量达百分之九十五,它们没有骨头或血液,甚至没有大脑。然而,水母却是在海域中生存时间最长的食肉动物。约6亿5千万年前,水母就已生活在海洋中,这甚至比恐龙在地球上出现的时间还早。狮鬃水母会捕食鱼类,甚至是其他水母,虽然没有大脑,但它们都是游泳健将,所以捕食对它们来说是轻而易举的事。强大的游泳技能使得它们能够逃脱天敌的魔爪,又能轻松猎杀自己的食物。不同于其他海洋生物的是,水母没有牙齿。它们先用自己有毒的触须刺螫猎物,待猎物麻痹后,再大快朵颐。

4.Sperm Whales
4.抹香鲸

抹香鲸

Sperm whales are not the biggest whale swimming in the ocean, even at a whopping 35 tons, but that does not stop them from being formidably powerful creatures. Sperm whales are the owners of the largest brains of any creature known on Earth. Sperm whales are impressive swimmers who can dive in excess of 3,000 feet below the surface to find food, and because they are mammals, they have to hold their breath for the whole 90 minute return trip! Sperm whales can be found anywhere in the ocean and prefer meals of squid. Sperm whales hunt squid though a method which involves them flipping upside down in order to create a vacuum which can hoover a squid up from up to three feet away. Many squids are easy pickings for the huge whales and their vacuum mouths, but species like the giant squid are just big enough to fight back. There have been several notable occurrences of sperm whales fighting with giant squids, and some sperm whales have even been found with the marks of a squid's suckers on its body, a testament to the strength of the giant squid.
成年体重高达35吨的抹香鲸不是海洋中最大的鲸鱼,但这并不能阻止它们成为强大的生物。 抹香鲸是地球上所有已知生物中头脑最大的生物。抹香鲸的潜水能力极好,可以在3000多英尺深的海域内寻找食物,鉴于哺乳动物的属性,它们必须在90分钟的回程内屏住呼吸,保存体内含氧量!抹香鲸广泛分布于各大海域,喜食乌贼。抹香鲸猎捕乌贼的方法极妙:它们猛然翻滚身体、俯冲而下,利用水流形成真空,靠着这股水压把距离自身2-3英尺的乌贼吸入口中。许多乌贼能轻易发现鲸鱼和它们真空的嘴并适时地进行反击,而抹香鲸似乎也乐在其中。有些抹香鲸身上遗留下的吸盘印迹可以表明,巨型乌贼会与抹香鲸缠斗,且巨型乌贼的战斗力也不容小觑。
The sperm whale may not be the biggest and most powerful mammal in the sea, but it's ancestors were certainly contenders for the title. A fossil of a huge sperm whale was found in the Peruvian desert in 2008. The fossil was namedLeviathan melvillei, after Herman Melville, the author of the ultimate seaman's novel Moby Dick. The whale probably lived around 12 million years ago and is an example of what is probably one of the most powerful predators ever found. It had a skull that was 3 meters long and jaws filled with 36 centimeter teeth., possibly some of the biggest teeth ever found.
抹香鲸也许不是海洋中体型最大的和力量最强的哺乳动物,但它们的祖先可称得上是“海中霸主”。2008年,一块巨型抹香鲸化石在秘鲁(Peruvian)沙漠中被发现。为了纪念最伟大的航海小说——《白鲸记》(Moby Dick)的作者赫尔曼·梅尔维尔(Herman Melville),这块化石被命名为梅尔维尔鲸(Leviathan melvillei)。这条鲸鱼可能生活在12万年前,是迄今发现最强大的食肉动物。它的头盖骨长达3米,下颚嵌36厘米长的牙齿,可能是已发现的最大的牙齿。

校对:庄粉玲 编辑:橘子

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