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Elephants have earned a crazy reputation for being able to remember places and migratory patterns and voice differences…
大象因为能够记住地方，记住迁移的路线和不同同伴的音色而名震江湖，
in fact there’s some evidence to show that they can even hold a grudge.
事实上，有证据表明他们甚至还会抱怨。
But is it true they really NEVER forget?
但大象真的就不会有忘事的时候吗？
Elephants have arguably one of the most intelligent brains in the animal kingdom;
可以说，大象的大脑是动物王国中最聪明的大脑之一;
scientists often place them up there with dolphins and even apes.
科学家也经常将它们和海豚，甚至是猿归为一类。
Even though we think of elephants as just one animal,
尽管我们认为大象只是一种动物，
there are actually three distinct living species of elephant, two in Africa and one in Asia.
实际上大象有三个明显不同的品种，其中两种生活在非洲，剩下一种生活在亚洲。
Each species have different advantages and disadvantages,
他们每一种都各有优缺点，
but for this piece we’re going to try and keep it simple…
在本期视频中我们就尽可能地化繁为简吧......
On average, elephant brains are 3 times the size of human brains.
平均而言，大象的脑容量是人类的3倍。
Like us, they have complex neural networks
同我们人类一样，他们也有着复杂的神经网络
and actually have MORE neurons than humans do ––257 billion to our mere 86 billion.
实际上，大象的神经元也要比人类多--大象的神经元多达2570亿，人类的才860亿。
Though size alone doesn’t actually predict intelligence or memory --
虽然仅靠脑容量的大小我们还不能预测智商或记忆力 -
because it depends on where in the brain the neurons are.
因为两者取决于大脑中神经元的位置。
In the case of elephants, almost 98% of their neurons, are stored in their cerebellum.
大象的神经元几乎有98％都存储在小脑中。
This region sits in the back of the brain and is thought to be linked to motor skills and sensory input,
这个区域位于大脑后部，被认为与运动技能和感觉输入有关，
meaning it’s in charge of handling all the massiveness that is an elephant.
这也就意味着，这个不为是负责处理大象体型庞大而沉重的问题。
Which makes sense––their trunks alone have over one hundred thousand bundles of muscle fibers
这是有道理的 - 因为单单是他们的鼻子就有超过十万束的肌肉纤维，
I can’t even imagine controlling something like that.
要控制那样重的东西我连想都不敢想。
A larger animal often requires a larger brain -- there’s more skin, more muscle, more of everything!
体型越大的动物脑容量通常也会更大 - 因为皮肤多，肌肉多，什么都多！
Outside of their impressive cerebellum …
除了令人印象深刻的小脑之外......
Elephants actually DON’T have a very robust cerebral cortex (an area of the brain often linked to higher intelligence),
大象并没有很强大的大脑皮质（大脑中一个通常与高智商相关的区域），
but some have the ability to problem-solve with tools,
然而，有些大象会用工具来解决问题，
and still others have even been observed to recognize friends, family, food routes, and enemies.
据观察，还有一些大象认识朋友、家人、觅食路线以及敌人。
And Asian elephants, specifically, have been known to exhibit self-awareness in mirrors.
众所周知，亚洲大象能够认出镜子中的自己。
Which is huge!
他们能够意识到自己体型很大！
In fact, both African and Indian elephants have a unique set of neurons called VENs that are believed to mediate social-empathic behaviors --
事实上，非洲大象和印度大象都有一组所谓的“VENS”的独特神经元，据说这种神经元能够调节社会共情行为 -
and humans also have these!
人类也有这种神经元！
But even though elephants are incredible animals, a human brain is FAR more densely populated with neural networks.
然而，尽管大象是一种非常了不起的动物，但人脑的神经网络要比大象的密集得多。
It’s possible that we can’t use our models for elephants.
人类的神经网络模型不适宜于大象也是有可能的。
They could represent a different type of cognitive structure.
大象或许代表着不同类型的认知结构。
Scientists speculate the elephant brain favors “widespread interconnectivity” of distant regions rather than proximity of clustered ones.
科学家们推测，大象大脑中更多的是距离较远的神经元之间“广泛互联”，而不是相互靠近的神经元具有相似性。
Their neurons are farther apart than ours, and while we don’t know exactly why.
它们的神经元比我们的神经元更分散，虽然目前我们并不清楚这是为什么。
So even though we understand a lot about the structure of elephant brains, we still haven’t grasped their long memory,
因此，尽管我们对大象的结构已经有了比较深入的了解，但对它们的长期记忆我们还是知之甚少，
but we KNOW they have it from observing their behavior.
但通过观察，我们知道它们是具有长期记忆的。
Some elephants travel in packs as small as 8 or as large as 100 individuals.
大象迁徙的群体少到8头，多到100头。
And the experiences of a herd make them wiser.
群体活动让它们变聪明了。
And that wisdom is passed on to younger generations.
而这种智慧也传递给了年轻一代。
Herds are made up of a matriarchy, meaning the group is led by female elephants, usually the eldest.
象群是母系社会，这就意味着领头的是雌性大象（通常是最年长的雌性大象）。
And since elephants can reach the age of 60 to 80 years old, that many years of information can come in handy.
由于大象的寿命可长达60-80年，这么多年的经验就可以派上用场了。
For example, in 1993, Tanzania had one of the worst droughts in their recent history.
打个比方，1993年坦桑尼亚发生了其近代历史上最严重的干旱之一。
Places where water was normally abundant, dried up,
原本水资源十分丰富的地区都变得干旱缺水了，
and groups with older females, who had lived through previous droughts,
成员之中有经历过干旱的年长雌象的象群，
moved to locations with a greater chance of water,
就迁徙到了水资源更丰富的地方，
while those headed by younger matriarchs stayed behind.
而那些年轻雌象带领的象群则留在了后面。
The younger herds lost more calves within 9 months than elder’s groups.
在9个月时间里，年轻头象领导的象群死去的小象要比年老头象领导的象群多。
But memory of droughts isn’t the only thing… elephants can also remember friends and foes.
然而，大象不仅能够记住干旱......还能能记住敌友。
Another study was conducted where elephants listened to recordings of men from the Masai
另一项研究中，研究人员给大象放马赛人的录音
which are a group that has been known to kill elephants to protect grazing land
一个臭名昭著的为了保护牧场而杀害大象的群体
and then recordings from the Kamba tribe, who don’t bother elephants much at all.
然后又给他们放了Kamba部落的录音，而这个部落从来都不会打扰大象。
Even though both tribes repeated the same phrase in the recording,
尽管两个部落在录音中重复的是相同的短语，
a majority of elephants acted much more defensively when the Masai recording was played!
但播放马赛人的录音时大多数大象的防御性都会更强！
So a herd with a matriarch that has experience with Masai
曾经遭遇过马赛人的头象带领的象群，
might turn her herd away if she recognizes their language,
可能会在辨别出这种语言之后将象群带走，
ultimately saving her herd from harm.
以免自己的象群受到伤害。
In the end, we understand more about elephants and their long memories than we did decades ago,
几十年过去了，我们对大象以及大象的长期记忆也有了更多的了解，
but with regard to HOW they can remember things like water holes or voices from their youth… we’re still working on it.
但是关于他们是如何记住自己年轻时看到过的水域，听到过的声音等信息......我们还在继续努力。
More research is of course needed.
显然，我们还需要继续求索。
They’re clearly wise creatures,
大象无疑是一种非常聪明的动物，
and hopefully one day we’ll better understand what goes on in that massive brain of theirs.
希望有一天，我们能够更好地理解他们大脑里发生的事情。
You probably love elephants if you’re still watching -- so you’ll love this special episode of Dodo Heroes.
如果你已经看到了这里，那你应该很喜欢大象吧 - 你可能也会喜欢Dodo Heroes的系列视频哦。
This family rehabilitates and rewilds elephants saved from Thailand’s tourism industry!
这个家庭为从泰国旅游业中拯救出来的大象重新创立了家园，并且帮助大家重新回到了野外！
Tune in at 9 / 8 Central on Animal Planet, or stream all the episodes on the Animal Planet GO app.
记得东部时间9点, 中部时间8点准时上《动物星球》上收听哦，大家也可以下载Animal Planet GO播放所有剧集。
Don’t forget to look out for the hashtag Dodo Heroes.
别忘了关注Dodo Heroes的相关话题噢。
Determining how smart animals are is really hard… know why?
弄清楚动物有多聪明是一件非常困难的事情，知道这是为什么吗？
Check out Maren’s video about it here.
快去Maren的这期视频一探究竟吧。
Don’t forget to subscribe for more wild science in your day.
不要忘了订阅我们的频道，了解更多关于野生动物的科学知识喔。
And one last elefact before you go, elephants have very poor eyesight!
最后，大象的视力很差！
They primarily rely on odor to learn about one another and the world around them.
他们主要依靠气味来感知同伴和周围的世界。
They can even smell water from several miles away! Thanks for watching everyone.
他们甚至只要闻一闻，就能知道几英里之外有没有水！感谢大家的收看。
