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If you're a cat person, like me, you've probably seen your furry friend looking...disgusted with you..?
如果你和我一样是猫奴的话，你或许有看过你家主子对你露出厌恶的表情。
There's this face they make, like with the wrinkled up nose, curled back lip, and the open mouth,
诺，就是这种表情，鼻子皱起来，嘴唇卷起，嘴巴张开，
that looks like they're just absolutely revolted.
就好像它们很厌恶什么一样。
Good news, your cat doesn't actually think you're gross. Or, if they do, that face isn't how they show it.
好消息是，你家主子并不是真的觉得你很讨厌。或者，如果它们觉得你讨厌的话，也不是这种表情。
That sneer is actually what's known as the Flehmen response,
这种嘲笑的表情其实是裂唇嗅反应，
and it gives cats and other animals, like horses, llamas, dogs, and giraffes a supercharged way to smell the environment around them.
猫和其他动物，比如马、美洲驼、狗和长颈鹿通过这种方法察觉周围的环境。
While it might look like cat are expressing their distaste,
虽然看起来是像猫猫在表达它们的厌恶，
what they're actually doing with that face is "sniffing" using a specialized organ called the vomeronasal organ.
但是它们的这幅表情是在“嗅探”，其中所利用的一种专门器官被称为犁鼻器。
It sits kind of underneath the nose in the roof of the mouth.
这种器官位于上颚中鼻子的下方。
And it's actually connected to the mouth by small, fluid-filled ducts called nasopalatine canals.
这种器官其实是通过鼻腭管，一种充以流体的小管道和嘴巴相连接。
If you look in your cat's mouth, you can even see the ends of these, they're behind the sharp incisors.
如果你去看看你家主子的嘴巴，你甚至可以看到这些管道的终端，就在它们锋利门牙的旁边。
Though, good luck getting them to sit still while you like, take a look at the inside of its mouth.
它们静静坐着的时候，你可以看看它们的嘴巴。
Anyway, because of the fluid in these ducts, scents don't passively drift up there.
总之，就是因为这些管道的流体，才不会让味道被动地飘过。
So to "sniff", airborne scents have to be taken in through the mouth, dissolved in fluid,
所以，为了“嗅探”，空气中的味道需要通过嘴巴吸收，在流体中分解，
and then pumped up until they come into contact with the organ's sensory cells.
然后味道被抽上来，直到它们接触到器官的感觉细胞为止。
And that is where that funny face comes in.
所以就出现了这些搞笑的表情。
When a cat, or giraffe, or horse pulls back their lips into the grimace of the Flehmen response,
当一只猫或是长颈鹿、马等因为裂唇嗅反应而伸出舌头扮鬼脸的时候，
they're opening up those canals and starting the pumping action to take a deeper whiff.
它们会张开这些管道并开始深深吸上一口。
They could just rely on their nose, but the vomeronasal organ has its own set of chemical receptors, so it can smell different smells.
它们可以只依赖于自己的鼻子，但是犁鼻器有自己的一套化学接收器，因此可以闻到不同的气味。
This system is primarily used to detect scent signals from members of their own species,
这条系统起初被用于探测同物种身上的气味信号，
though different animals, and even different sexes of the same animal, can use this secondary smelling system in different ways.
虽然不同动物，甚至是同物种不同性别的动物，它们也以不同方式使用这种二级味觉系统。
And that might explain why people tend to associate the flehmen face with cats and horses more than with dogs,
这或许可以解释为什么人们倾向于将裂唇嗅行为表情和猫以及马相联系，而不与狗狗相连系，
even though all of them can sniff this way. In case you're wondering though, you cannot.
尽管它们都可以以这种方式进行嗅探。以防你们会问，我干脆回答你们：人类是不行的。
Humans lost all of those nasopalatine ducts a long time ago.
人类早已失去了那些鼻腭管。
And while there are some remnant cavities where your vomeronasal organs once were, it's been awhile since they could detect anything.
虽然你口中还有一些剩余的空腔，但是它们也被放置很久了。
Which is all to say: don't worry if your cats are making weird faces at you. They don't hate you.
反正，如果你家主子朝你做出这些怪异的表情，它们并不是讨厌你。
But… they might think you smell. Thanks for asking, Paul G.!
但是...它们或许是觉得你很臭。感谢Paul G.的提问！
And thanks to all of our patrons on Patreon who voted in our poll.
感谢在Patreon对问题进行提问的赞助人。
If you want the chance to vote on which questions we answer, or get some really awesome rewards,
如果你想对我们的问题进行投票或是获得一些小礼物，
you can learn all about the perks of being one of our patrons at Patreon.com/SciShow.
可以登录Patreon.com/SciShow了解成为赞助人的特权。
