聰明的動物們做的十大趣事(上)

Animals continue to amaze us by displaying types of intelligence we once thought were reserved for humans. So the next time your partner fakes it or someone steals behind your back, remember—the animals did it first.

現如今，動物們正不斷通過做一些我們原以爲只有人類能做的事情來讓我們大吃一驚。所以，下次要是你的朋友在模仿或者在你背後偷偷摸摸，記得告訴他，這是動物首創的。

panzees Start Fashion Trends

10.黑猩猩開啓時尚潮流

We humans often admire individuality. Paradoxically, we also make fun of people who don't follow the latest fashion trends in our society. Maybe we share our copycat tendencies with chimpanzees.

我們人類經常讚美個性。矛盾的是，我們也取笑社會中那些不追趕最新潮流趨勢的人。或許，我們和黑猩猩一樣都有着盲目模仿的傾向。

According to a study published in Animal Cognition, the copycat behavior of chimps leads to new traditions that are often specific to only one group of the animals. It's similar to a new fashion trend emerging in their example, one of the researchers observed a female chimp, Julie, repeatedly sticking a strawlike piece of grass in one or both of her ears. Over time, other chimps in Julie's group copied her behavior. A couple of the animals continued putting grass in their ears even after Julie died. It's like your uncle wearing his hair in a mullet after the 1980s died. Some chimps (and people) just can't give up their traditions even when they go out of researchers concluded that the grass-in-the-ear behavior wasn't a random event among the chimps. They actively learn from one another and continue behaviors they find rewarding, even after the originator dies.

一項發佈在《動物認知》上的研究表示黑猩猩盲目模仿的行爲會產生新的傳統，而這些傳統只針對黑猩猩當中的一部分。這與它們社會出現一種新的傳統是相似的。比如說，一個研究者觀察了一隻名叫朱莉的母猩猩，她用一根像稻草一樣的草在她的一隻或者兩隻耳朵裏反覆地掏來掏去。隨着時間的推移，朱莉所在的羣體中的其他猩猩模仿了她的掏耳行爲。儘管在朱莉死了之後，還是有幾隻猩猩不停地模仿朱莉，把草放到耳朵裏。這就像你的叔叔留着一種在20世紀80年代就已經過時的烏魚髮型一樣，一些猩猩和人不會放棄他們的傳統，即使這些傳統過時了。研究人員總結道，用草掏耳朵這種行爲在這羣黑猩猩中並不是隨機事件。它們積極主動地互相學習並且保持它們覺得有益的行爲，即使這種行爲的創造者已經死了。

Remember The Scents Of People They Love Better Than The Scents Of Other Dogs

9.比起記住同類的氣味，狗更能記住它們所喜歡的人的氣味

One whiff of the cologne or perfume of someone we love may trigger an immediate emotional reaction in us. For dogs, with their heightened sense of smell, the reaction is even stronger. As published in the journal Behavioral Processes, researchers set out to see how dogs would respond to the scents of absent humans and dogs, both familiar and unfamiliar.

一點點古龍香水或者我們所愛的人身上的香味就能立即引起我們的情緒反應。對狗狗而言，它們有着靈敏的嗅覺，因此它們的反應也更強烈。正如《基本行爲過程》上所發表的，研究者們想要看看狗會對不在場的人和狗的氣味做出怎樣的反應。其中包括它們熟悉的或不太熟悉的。

Twelve dogs of various breeds were each presented with five different scents while undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain. The scents were taken from the test dog itself, a dog and a human that lived in the same house as the test dog, an unfamiliar dog, and an unfamiliar human. None of the scent donors were present during the five scents caused a similar response in the areas of the brain that detect smells. But in the area of the brain associated with emotion, the dogs responded most positively to familiar humans—even more so than to familiar dogs. However, the reward response occurred only with familiar humans. The researchers weren't sure if that response was based on food, play, or other factors. They concluded that dogs remember us even when we're not there.

給12條不同品種的狗，聞5種不同的氣味，在此過程對其進行核磁共振，觀察它們的大腦。這些氣味來自測試狗自身。把處在同一間房子的一條狗和一個人作爲一組，其中人與狗是互不熟悉的。氣味的提供者也不會出現在測試中。這5種氣味在大腦探測氣味的部位都引起了相似的反應。但是在與情緒關聯的大腦區域中，測試狗則對熟悉的人的氣味都做出了積極的反應，甚至比對其熟悉的狗的氣味做出的反應更加強烈。然而狗的獎勵反應只會在它聞到熟悉的人，也就是它喜歡的人的氣味時纔會發生。研究者們無法確定狗的這種反應是否是建立在食物與遊戲，或者其他因素的基礎上。他們得出結論：即使我們不在那裏，狗也能記住我們。

birds Who Sing Less Have Better Memories

8.唱得少的鳴鳥記憶力更好

According to researchers from Duke University, male song sparrows experience a trade-off between the number of songs they sing and the strength of their other mental abilities. Furthermore, female song sparrows may use this fact to judge the mental abilities of their potential mates.

杜克大學的研究者稱雄性北美歌雀會在它們唱的歌曲數量與心理能力之間進行權衡。而且雌性北美歌雀會利用這一點來對它們未來伴侶的心理能力進行判斷。雌性歌雀有足夠的理由挑剔。當對雄性歌雀解決覓食困境的能力進行測試時發現，唱得少的歌雀解決困境的速度是最快的，它們記得食物在哪兒。

The females may have good reason to be judgmental. When male song sparrows' ability to solve food-finding puzzles is tested, the birds singing fewer songs learned to solve the puzzles the quickest. They remembered where the food was. The researchers believe this shows that there's a trade-off between learning songs and other mental abilities, such as spatial memory. Song learning and spatial learning are controlled by different areas of the bird's brain. So as the song sparrow's brain develops, if more resources are used to learn songs, there are fewer resources left for other mental abilities like spatial doesn't apply to all birds, though. For example, starlings that sang more songs were quicker at solving spatial puzzles.

研究者們認爲，這表明了北美歌雀學習唱歌與像空間記憶力這種心理能力之間存在平衡的關係。鳥兒對歌曲的學習以及對空間的記憶都是由其腦部不同區域控制的，北美歌雀的大腦發育也是如此。如果更多的資源用來學習歌曲，那麼像空間記憶這種心理智能的發展所需的資源則會更少。但這也並不是對所有的鳥類都適用。比如說椋鳥，它們歌唱得越多，解決空間問題的速度則更快。

eys Know When To Double Down—Or Do They?

7.猴子知道什麼時候投雙倍注？這是真的嗎？

It's well-known that humans often see patterns in random events, believing in winning and losing streaks when they gamble. Well, it turns out that monkeys love to gamble, too. So researchers from the University of Rochester decided to study three rhesus monkeys to see if they also share our belief in winning streaks.

衆所周知，人們往往會在隨機事件中看到模式。他們相信在賭博時會有連贏或者連敗的存在。嗯，原來猴子也愛賭。因此來自羅切斯特大學的研究者決定通過研究三隻獼猴來看看它們是否和我們人類一樣相信連贏的存在。

The scientists designed a fast-paced, computerized game where each monkey would pick right or left and get a reward if they were correct. There were three types of play. Two had clear patterns of correct answers. The third was totally the types of play with patterns, the monkeys caught on to the correct answer quickly. But even in random play, the monkeys favored one side as though they expected a winning streak. This continued for weeks, with over 1,200 opportunities in each researchers believe this study shows that we humans have inherited our bias toward seeing patterns in random events. They think this behavior originally evolved to help our ancestors recognize real patterns to find food in the wild.

科學家們設計了一個快節奏的由電腦控制的遊戲，在遊戲中每隻猴子只要選擇左或右即可，如果他們的選擇是正確的則可以得到獎勵。這個遊戲有三種類型，其中兩種有正確答案模式，另外一種則是完全隨機的。在玩其中帶有答案模式的遊戲時，獼猴們能快速地指出正確答案，在玩答案隨機的遊戲時，它們的選擇則偏向某一邊，好像它們期待出現連贏一樣，這一情況持續了數週，每一種隨機序列中有1200多個隨機變量。研究者們認爲這一研究表明我們人類繼承了一種偏向意識，即在隨機事件中看到模式。他們認爲這種偏向最原始的是幫助人類祖先識別真正的模式，從而使他們在野外找到食物。

a Finches Fake It To Make It

6.斑胸草雀善於僞裝

Unlike male song sparrows, zebra finches aren't giving their potential mates the opportunity to judge. If a zebra finch is sick, it will fake being healthy in front of other zebra finches, especially if there's a chance to mate. No word on what else they're faking.

不像雄性歌雀，斑胸草雀不會給它們的潛在配偶評判的機會，如果生病了，它會在其他同類面前裝作很健康的樣子，在它有機會結交配偶的情況下尤其如此。我們不瞭解它到底在裝什麼。

A review by a researcher from the University of Zurich found that same behavior to be true of other animals as well. From rodents to birds to monkeys, many animals will alter their behavior depending on their social situation. Usually, the animals will consume less and rest more when they're sick. This protects the life-sustaining processes they need to fight infections and in front of their young, possible mates, or intruders threatening their territories, the animals change their priorities and hide their illnesses. That behavior might seem amusing or clever—until you realize how these actions affect the detection and spread of diseases among both animals and humans.

來自杜克大學的一名研究者在其發表的評論中認爲這種行爲對其他動物也適用，從齧齒類動物到鳥類、猴子，很多動物都會根據它們所處的社會情境相應地改變它們的行爲。通常情況下，如果生病了，它們則會多休息，減少體能消耗。這樣就保障了讓其生命得以維持的過程，並以此來抵抗傳染性疾病，恢復健康。但是在其他年輕的，有可能成爲其配偶的斑胸草雀面前，或者面對威脅到其領地的入侵者時，它們則會改變重點，並隱藏它們的疾病。在你明白這些行爲是怎樣在人類和動物中對疾病的偵查和傳播做出影響之前，它們的這種行爲看起來有趣，或者說聰明。

翻譯：李清海 來源：前十網