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The animal world is generally a practical place. You have to be practical when you're just trying to survive, after all. When you're worried about where your next meal is coming from, whether or not your genes will survive in your young, and what's hiding around the corner waiting to eat you, there's usually not enough time for creativity. There are some animals, though, that scientists have found doing some pretty inexplicable stuff—some of it is downright weird.
动物世界是一个物竞天择，适者生存的战场。毕竟，当你想方设法只为在这场争夺战中获得一席生存之地的时候，你就不得不为了现实因素而考虑。当你为下一顿午餐发愁时，当你为能否顺利繁衍后代而担忧时，以及无时无刻不在警惕是否有捕食者在某个角落虎视眈眈时，在这些时刻，除了生存下去，你根本就无暇顾及其他。尽管如此，科学家们还是发现了动物们会做一些非常令人费解的事情——其中有些事情既奇葩又疯狂。
10.Fur Seals Mating With Penguins
10.与企鹅交配的海豹
In 2006, researchers observing the native species of Marion Island in Antarctica saw something pretty baffling—a fur seal attempting to mate with a king penguin. They made note of it in their research, treating it as an independent incident. At the time, they suspected it was something rather accidental, maybe playtime gone horribly wrong, or mealtime gone horribly wrong.
2006年，研究者们在观察南极Marion岛上的本地物种时，发现了一件很令人费解的事情——一只海豹正试图与一只帝企鹅进行交配。研究者们将这件事记录下来，以便作为单独探讨的例子研究分析。研究人员更倾向于认为这是一起偶然事件，或者是互相游戏玩耍时过了火，亦或是午餐进食时出了乱子。
But more recently, representatives of the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, have seen it happening again. And again. And again. It's always brutal, and in at least one observed instance it ended with the seal killing and eating the penguin. Before 2006, fur seals and their closely related species had never been observed trying to mate with something outside of their own classification, so it seems as though they're learning the behavior. There has been considerable research done on the island for more than 30 years, and the sudden upstart of this behavior has scientists baffled. There are some suggestions of what's going on, but they're just guesses. The lack of females on the beach might be forcing young males to focus their attention elsewhere, but the typical reasons for cross-species mating don't seem to factor in. In some cases, cross-species sex can result in hybridized young, like mules, but that's definitely not the case here.
但是最近，南非比勒陀利亚大学哺乳动物研究学院的代表们接二连三地目睹了这一现象的发生。然而现实是残酷的，在至少有一次目击事件中，海豹在与企鹅交配完成后将其杀死并吃掉。在2006年以前，人们从未发现海豹以及其近亲物种有过与自己物种以外的动物进行交配的经历。所以海豹的这种行为看上去像是它们通过学习获得的。在这之前，研究人员已经在这座岛上进行了30多年的大量实验研究，而这一情况的出现使得科学家们深陷迷雾。人们对于这一现象给出了许多意见和建议，但也仅仅只是猜想而已。雌性海豹数量的缺乏，也可能是导致年轻雄性海豹将注意力转到其他物种身上的原因。但是一些特殊的关于动物杂交的原因似乎都不能作为海豹和企鹅进行交配的重要因素。在某些情况下，跨物种的交配能繁衍出杂交的后代，比如骡子。但显然海豹和企鹅的交配不属于这种情况。
9.Collective Baboon Apathy
9.集体性沉默的狒狒
In 2013, a typically rambunctious colony of baboons at the Emmen Zoo in the Netherlands was struck by a bizarre case of mass hysteria. All their regular antics—playing, fighting, greeting their treat-bearing keepers—stopped, and they simply sat.
所有它们日常的活动——嬉戏玩耍，打闹斗殴，互相问候——突然间都停止了，然后就这样安静地坐在那儿。
The odd event started with a massive burst of chaos. Then nothing. One group sat high up in a tree and refused to do anything, and the apathy spread throughout the whole colony. This wasn't the the first time that it's happened. In 1994, 1997, and 2007, similar occurrences of mass apathy happened in the same group of baboons. During the previous episode, they all sat motionless in their enclosure, looking off in the same direction. They didn't eat and they didn't socialize. They just sat. Nothing similar has happened in any other zoos, and it hasn't been linked to a unique quality or characteristic in the dominant member of the group—the dominant member has changed between the episodes. Slowly, the baboons came out of their trance-like state. Younger baboons started acting up again, older baboons resumed their parenting duties, and gradually, they all got hungry and started looking for food again. There's been a wide range of theories about just what was going on with the baboons. It could be minor, undetected earthquakes, or a random fright that might have been as simple as someone wearing a scary T-shirt. These theories have been thrown around, but none have been proven as explanations for the baboons of the Emmen Zoo to sink into their occasional funk.
刚开始，狒狒们还是一阵阵地喧闹，过了一会儿，突然整体的什么声音都没有了。有一群坐在树上的狒狒拒绝做任何事情，接着这种沉默传染至整个族群。这种情况并不是第一次发生。1994年，1997年，以及2007年，同样的集体性沉默的情况都发生在与上述相同的一群狒狒身上。在之前提到的集体沉默中，狒狒们全都一动不动地坐在它们的领地范围内，视线都望向同一个方向。它们不进食，也不嬉戏打闹，就这么静坐着。除此之外，没有任何一家其他的动物园出现过类似状况，这种行为和主导群体的性格个性并没有什么关系——因为不同的集体沉默现象的发生都由不同的主导群体引导的。之后，狒狒们逐渐地从这种凝神发呆的状态中醒过来。年轻的狒狒们最开始恢复了平时的嬉戏打闹，接着，年龄较长的狒狒们恢复了它们照顾后代的状态，渐渐地，所有的狒狒们都开始感到饥饿，又重新开始了寻觅食物。对于狒狒们的这种状态，人们有很多种说法。出现这种状况的原因有可能是发生了轻微地不易令人察觉的地震，亦或许是某个人穿了一件夸张吓人的T恤使得狒狒们产生惊恐的情绪。虽然这些理论时常被人拿来讨论，但是无一例能够证明埃门动物园的狒狒们偶尔陷入放空沉默的现象发生的原因。
8.Changes In Blue Whale Songs
8.改变歌唱音调的蓝鲸
For decades, scientists have been recording the songs of the ocean's blue whales. But there's something strange going on—not with the song itself, but with the whales. Every year, their voices are getting deeper and deeper.
几十年来，科学家们一直在为蓝鲸歌唱的音调进行录音。不过，它们唱歌的音调正在发生奇怪的变化——倒不是说歌唱的旋律发生变化，而是鲸鱼们本身的唱歌音调发生了变化。每一年，蓝鲸们的歌唱音调都要比上一年变得更低。
The pitch is changing by such a drastic amount that scientists making the recordings need to calibrate their equipment every year to ensure they can even pick up the songs. Recording devices switch on when they pick up a certain frequency, and that frequency is changing. It's happening worldwide, too. It's not just one certain group of whales, but rather whales all over the oceans that are demonstrating singing voices that are getting deeper. Scientists first noticed the changes in pitch in the 1960s, and the songs have sunk in pitch by about 30 percent since then. No one knows why it's happening. Some think that it was something to do with the need to overcome competing ocean noises that have increased over the last few decades, while others think it might be in response to a change in water temperature, composition, or climate. It might have something to do with a change in the density of whale population, or in the way that they're selecting mates. No one can say for sure.
由于蓝鲸的发声音高发生了很大的变化，科学家们每年在录制音频时都不得不重新校准录音设备，以便能够保证录到鲸鱼们的歌唱。当录音设备捕捉到特定频率的音调时就开始进行录音，而这个频率还在不断地变化。世界范围内的鲸鱼的音调都在发生这变化。不只有特定的某种鲸鱼种群在发生变化，所有海域内的鲸鱼们都在发生这变化：它们歌唱的音调正在逐渐变低。科学家们在1960年第一次发现了它们发声音高的变化，自此以后，鲸鱼们的发生音调已经下降了大约百分之三十。没有人知道为什么会发生这样的变化。一部分人认为这是为了克服过去几十年来日益嘈杂的海洋噪声，另一部分人认为这应该和水温变化，水成份变化，或水文气候变化有关。这也可能和鲸鱼数量密度的变化，或和它们选择交配伴侣的方式有关。总之，没有人能够准确地断定鲸鱼歌唱音调变化的原因。
7.Female Chickens Changing Sex
7.转换性别的母鸡
There are a few animal species that will change sexes, usually when there are no opposite-gender members of the species available. In that case, it makes sense for the survival of the group. But in the case of chicken sex changes, the process is a little different.
很少有动物种类会转换性别，通常情况下，在异性成员不足的物种中才会存在这种现象。为了更好地进行繁衍生息，这种转换性别的现象也就不难理解了。不过，对于转换性别的鸡来说，这个过程又有点不同。
Female chickens can undergo natural sex changes, but only take on the mannerisms and appearance of a male bird—they're not actually functionally male, but only adopting their secondary sex characteristics. Scientists know how this happens, but not why.Chickens have two sex organs; in females, one develops into an ovary and one remains dormant. If something happens—anything from a hormonal imbalance to the development of a cyst—it can make the second organ grow and release male hormones. What this means for the previously female chicken is that she'll suddenly stop laying eggs, she'll grow a wattle and a comb, and she'll act like a male. She'll start strutting and crowing, but she won't mate with other females because she's still genetically female.It is known to happen, though not frequently. In 2011, chicken owners in Cambridgeshire, England, saw it happening in their own backyard when one of their hens inexplicably stopped laying eggs and started practicing her crowing. Gertie became Bertie, and while he wasn't very good at it originally, he's become quite the vocal semi-rooster.
母鸡可以进行自然的性别转换，但也仅仅是变换成公鸡的习性和外观——不是在生理构造上变换成公鸡，而是在第二性特征上进行改变。科学家们知道这一转变的发生过程，并不知道其背后的原因。鸡有两个性器官；母鸡的两个性器官，其中一个长成卵巢，另外一个保持原样。如果有任何异常情况发生——从荷尔蒙分泌不均到囊肿的生成——这种情况会使另一个性器官发育并产生雄性激素。对于在转换性别之前的母鸡来说，转换性别成为公鸡就意味着它会停止下蛋，长出肉锤和鸡冠，并且生活习性也会和公鸡相仿。它会开始像公鸡那样昂首阔步并高声啼叫，但它并不会和其他的母鸡进行交配，因为从本质上来讲它还是母鸡的性特征。下面要说的事它曾经发生过，尽管发生次数很少。2011年，英国剑桥郡的养鸡场主发现，在他们自家后院里，他们养的其中一只母鸡很奇怪地不再生蛋，而是开始不断地练习啼叫。Gertie变成了Bertie, 虽然起初的练习效果不怎么样，但逐渐地已经变成能够像模像样啼叫的半个公鸡了。
6.Glow-In-The-Dark Scorpions
6.荧光的蝎子
When scorpions are exposed to ultraviolet light or the strong light of the full moon, they glow. No one knows why they glow, but it's dangerous for the scorpion.
蝎子在紫外线光线下或者在满月的月光照射下会发光。没有人知晓为什么它们会发光，但是会发光对于蝎子而言，是极其危险的。
Scorpions hunt mostly at night, the same time when their predators are out looking for a meal, too. Owls and some nocturnal rodents hunt and eat scorpions, so it seems pretty illogical that glowing in the dark would be the best choice for nighttime survival. Part of the answer might lie in scorpion eyes, which are best suited to seeing blue-green light. It's possible that their ability to glow in the dark evolved as a way to see each other. It's also been suggested that they're acting in the same way as some deep sea creatures, luring prey toward them with their bioluminescence. A California State University researcher has put forth the idea that scorpions rely on their glowing to indicate when they're out in the open and vulnerable. When the glowing stops, it's suggested, they know they're in the shadow of something that's hiding them from moonlight and safe. The strength of their glow is indicative of whether or not others can see them.
蝎子大多在夜间进行捕食，而这恰恰也是它们的捕食者外出寻找猎物的时间。作为猫头鹰以及一些夜间捕食的啮齿动物捕食对象，蝎子在夜间发出荧光的这项特点，似乎与要在夜间众多捕食者中生存下去这一条件有很大逻辑上的冲突。答案一部分藏在蝎子的眼部。蝎子的眼部最容易看到蓝绿色的光线，有可能它们在夜间发光的本领就是为了让同伴们看清楚彼此。也有其他的说法认为，它们和一些深海动物类似，是为了利用本身发光的特点来引诱猎物上钩。一位来自加州州立大学的研究人员提出了一个观点，观点认为蝎子是通过自身的发光来告知其它同伴它们正身处空旷地带并极易受到攻击。当它们停止发光时，这就说明，它们目前隐藏在避开月光的相对安全的位置。它们的发光强弱决定了其它物种能否能够看清它们。
翻译：齐墨； 校对：candy 来源：前十网
