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The sun bear is indigenous to Southeast Asia and considered a vulnerable species by the the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
马来熊来自东南亚，世界自然保护联盟将它视为濒危物种。
The bears have a reputation for being loners, and very shy, but it turns out they are very communicative with each other.
马来熊最有名的特点是独来独往，且很害羞，但其实马来熊之间很乐于沟通。
Marina Davila-Ross from the University of Portsmouth says it is the way they communicate that makes them special.
来自朴次茅斯大学的马丽娜·达维拉-罗斯认为，让它们与众不同的就是它们的交流方式。
So we examined the facial expressions of sun bears. We found that they mimic each other quite rapidly.
我们研究了马来熊的面部表情，发现它们迅速模仿对方。
When one sun bear is showing a facial expression during play,
在玩耍期间，当一只马来熊有了面部表情，
the other one is showing exactly the same facial expression and such precise mimicking has only been found before in gorillas,
另一只也会表现出同样的表情，这种精准的模仿之前只在大猩猩身上见过，
and we know that humans are showing these behaviors. Having found this behavior in the sun bear,
我们知道人类也可以表现出这样的行为，发现了马来熊身上的这种行为，
Davila-Ross and her colleagues want to look at more species, to see if this kind of special facial mimicry is not that special after all.
达维拉-罗斯和同事想了解更多物种，看看这种特殊的面部表情模仿行为究竟有没有那么特别。
We believe this is something that is more of a common ability that we can find across different mammalian species
我们认为这更多的是一种可以在不同种类哺乳动物身上发现的普遍能力，
and it is really important for research to examine more animals that are not primates and dogs for these complex behaviors.
要研究这些复杂行为，研究更多非灵长类动物和非狗的动物很重要。
But the researchers are quick to point out that just because these animals are capable of facial mimicry,
但研究人员马上指出，仅仅因为这些动物有能力模仿面部表情
does not necessarily mean they are using it like humans use it, to share feelings for instance.
并不意味着它们也可以像人类一样，比如分享情感。
We can not say whether we know bears have emotional contagion or even empathy,
我们不清楚熊是否有情绪感染，甚至是同情，
but we can say that one of the key behaviors associated with it, which is facial mimicry, is there.
但我们可以说与之有关联的最主要行为之一面部表情出现在了熊身上。
So, what are the bears communicating? The researchers are not completely sure,
那么它们在交流什么？研究人员不是特别确定，
but think the bears may be telling each other when their play time gets too rough.
但它们或许在告诉对方欢乐时光什么时候变得暴力起来。
Kevin Enochs, VOA news
凯文·恩尼克斯，VOA新闻。
