Hey kids, when living things evolved, it's almost always for the better.
嘿,小孩。生物进化,一般都是为了进化得更好。
After all the reason genes get passed down is because of the fact that they help the organism survive.
毕竟基因遗传下去,就是因为这种基因能帮生物更好地生存。
Occasionally, though, adaptations that might help an animal in general can become huge drawbacks in other ways.
但偶尔,某些一般情况下能帮助动物的进化可能以其他方式变成巨大的缺陷。
Today we're going to talk about some inherited traits that can end up screwing certain animals over if they're not careful.
今天我们聊聊某些遗传特性,如果动物们不小心,这些特性可能会把它们搞死。
First is sloths.
首先是树懒。
So evolutionarily, life has found two distinct methods to handling survival on land.
从进化角度看,生命找到了在陆地上存活的两种截然不同的方式。
You got the plants and the fungi you just kind of hang out, and then you got the animals who actually, you know, do things.
首先有植物和真菌,你只能和它们待在一起,其次有动物,动物可以活动。
The sloth is the one member of the animal kingdom who was brave enough to say: Alright, I made the wrong choice here.
而树懒是动物王国里非常有种的一个成员,它说:好吧,我选错了。
This whole mobility thing? Way overrated.
不就是能活动吗?也没那么厉害。
So you know what, f* it, I'm changing teams.
所以去它的,我要换队。
The sloth's sedentary lifestyle is made possible by the fact that the creature has the metabolism of the average college kid:
树懒的趴着不动的生活方式之所以可行,是因为它的代谢水平和普通大学生差不多:
Sleeping 16 hours a day and only crapping like once a week.
每天睡16个小时,一周大便一次。
However, while this lifestyle is easily sustained on a diet of Hot Pockets and alcohol,
虽然靠吃微波炉速食和喝酒能比较容易地维持这种生活,
it doesn't work as well when you eat nothing but leaves, which provide very little energy relative to volume.
但如果你只吃叶子,就不那么容易了,因为每单位体积的叶子提供的能量非常少。
Because of this you can have sloths who straight-up kick the bucket just from being too full.
因为这个原因,树懒可能因为吃得太撑而直接死翘翘。
Their sad, slow, sloth stomachs spent so much energy over so much time trying to digest the matter,
它们可怜的、缓慢的树懒胃要花很多能量和时间才能消化掉食物,
that by the time they're able to start absorbing energy, they've already fallen out of the tree, dead from exhaustion.
等它们终于能开始吸收能量的时候,它们已经因为体力不支,而从树上掉下来摔死了。
I learned about this next thing from my uncle Harvey back when I was eight.
下面这个冷知识是我8岁那年听哈维叔叔讲的。
He said to me: Hey Sammy, did you know sharks die if they stop swimming?
他对我说:嘿,小山姆,你知道吗?如果鲨鱼停止游泳,它就会死掉。
At first I was skeptical
最开始我很怀疑,
because this was the same man that told me that the squirrel on the road was just taking a nap.
因为哈维叔叔还对我说过,躺在马路上的松鼠是在睡午觉。
Several firm probs with the stick proved to me otherwise, so by this point in time,
我用棍子用力戳了几下松鼠,证明了松鼠不是在睡觉,所以从此以后,
I figured uncle Harvey just had a generally poor grasp on the concept of death.
我想哈维叔叔是不太清楚“死亡”这个概念是什么意思。
Apparently, though, he was right about the first thing.
但看来他说的关于鲨鱼的话是正确的。
Some species of sharks, such as great whites and whale sharks,
有几种鲨鱼,比如大白鲨和鲸鲨,
need to constantly move forward in order to push new water into their mouths and through their gills so that they don't suffocate.
它们需要不停地向前游动,才能把水推进嘴里,然后从腮里流出来,以免它们窒息。
It's kind of like when you were a kid and you had to keep running to keep the kite in here.
这有点像小时候放风筝,必须不停地跑,才能让风筝不掉下来。
Only instead of a kite, it's your respiratory system.
只不过对鲨鱼来说,不是风筝而是呼吸系统。
And instead of the kite falling down, you would choke to death on your own deflated organs.
而且(如果停下来),不是风筝掉落,而是你会因器官缺氧而憋死。
Anyway, this method of breathing is known as "ram ventilation."
总之,这种呼吸方式被称为"撞击呼吸"。
Following this logic, one would think that rams would then breathe through something called "shark ventilation."
依据这个逻辑,人们可能以为山羊的呼吸方式会是"鲨鱼呼吸"。(注:ram可以表示撞击或山羊。)
But now apparently, they're just like everybody else.
但显然山羊的呼吸方式和其他生物一样。
Next we have ferrets.
接下来是雪貂。
So in some cultures ferrets are referred to as polecats.
在一些文化中,雪貂被称为polecat。
And there are two main theories as to why that is.
关于这个名字的由来有两种理论。
Some biologists believe that the name is based on the fact that ferrets are an evolutionary hybrid of the pole and the cat,
一些生物学家认为,叫"棍猫"这个名字是因为雪貂是从木棍和猫进化而来的杂交品种,
as evidenced by their shape and features.
从雪貂的形状特点就能看出来。
However, others believe that the name is actually an outdated piece of Nazi propaganda,
但其他人认为,"波兰猫"这个名字是一种过时的纳粹宣传话语,
designed to show that Polish people are so dumb they don't know what a cat looks like.
目的是说明波兰人非常笨,他们不知道猫长什么样。
Now I'm just f* with you guys.
好吧,我又在瞎说。
They're actually called polecats because of the old French word "pole" meaning chicken,
其实叫"鸡猫"这个名字是因为古法语单词pole的意思是鸡,
which comes from the fact that these guys would always break into farmers' hen houses back in the day.
在古代,雪貂经常溜进农民们的鸡舍偷鸡,所以就叫"鸡猫"。
Back to the matter at hand, though, there is one critical difference between ferrets and cats.
回归正题,雪貂和猫有一个关键的不同之处。
When a cat eats some weird household item, it can always just vomit or crap it out. Problem solved.
如果猫在家里吃了什么奇怪的东西,猫可以把东西吐出来或拉出来。问题就解决了。
However, things get a little more complicated when your intestines are the size of shoelaces and your body is shaped like a sideways question mark.
但是当你的肠道像鞋带一样细,当你的身体形状像一个倒放的问号时,问题就变得复杂了。
In fact, ferrets are probably the easiest-to-clog animals in the world.
事实上,雪貂可能是世界上最容易肠梗塞的动物。
They can get blocked up and potentially die just from a few of its own hairs, or a cherry pit, or something getting lodged in their intestines.
它们可能因为自己的毛球、一粒樱桃核,或者肠子里卡了某个东西就肠梗塞并可能死掉。
And it takes more than just a pipe cleaner to fix that kind of issue.
出现这种情况时,马桶刷可解决不了问题。
Most ferrant parents have to take their pet to the hospital in the event of a blockage in order to have the obstruction removed through surgery.
出现肠梗塞时,大多数养雪貂的人必须把雪貂带去医院,通过手术把堵住的东西取出来。
So unless you want to pay thousands of dollars in vet bills,
所以除非你想付大几千的宠物医疗费,
make sure to keep an eye on your ferret, so it doesn't end up killing itself on something random.
否则一定要看好你的雪貂,以免它不小心把自己堵死了。
How it feels to chew Five Gum?
箭牌5号口香糖,感觉如何?
Help, I can't shit no more.
救命,我拉不出翔了。
Five Gum. Stimulate your ferrets.
箭牌5号口香糖,激活你的雪貂。
Anyway, that's all for today. Till next time.
总之,今天就这样。下次再见。
I'm Sam O' Nella, and thank you for watching
我是山姆·奥内拉,感谢您的观看。