绵羊记忆力惊人 看照片认出伙伴

Sheep are so smart that they could make "executive decisions". They can also remember friends as long as two years and can recall faces of human beings or other sheep when looking at photographs, University of Cambridge scientists said.

绵羊非常聪明，甚至可以做出“行政决策”。而剑桥大学的科学家宣称，绵羊还能记住两年前的朋友，并在看照片时能回忆起认识的面孔（不管这些面孔时人的还是羊的）。

Sheep can also pass psychological tests that Monkeys would fail, according to researcher Laura Avanzo and her colleague Jennifer Morton. They placed pairs of different colored buckets in front of sheep; with one containing food each time. They switched the food from bucket to bucket, while also alternating the colors and, eventually, changing the shapes of the buckets.

研究员劳拉阿万佐和同事珍妮弗莫顿的研究表明，绵羊能通过猴子都经常会失败的心理测试。它们在绵羊面前依次放置成对的不同颜色的桶，每次有一个桶中盛有食物。然后他们将食物从一个桶中移入另一个桶中，同时还改变桶的颜色，最后改变桶的形状。

The sheep learnt to recognize different patterns in colors and changed their behavior according to the pattern they were looking at. They also altered their behavior based on the various shapes placed in front of them. Only humans and other primates find these kind of responses easy; most other large animals struggle with them, the scientists said.

绵羊学着认出了不同的颜色组合，并根据颜色组合的不同改变行为，它们还会根据桶的形状的变化改变行为。科学家说，一般只有人类和其他灵长类动物能作出这类反应，其他大型动物要做到时很困难的。

Avanzo and Morton believe this is because sheep, like many humans, behave differently when in a flock compared to when alone. Morton said: "Sheep live in a flock, and in a flock they’re rather silly. When you work with them as individuals, they behave very differently."

阿万佐和莫顿认为，绵羊和人类一样，在身处群体和独处时的表现会有所不同。莫顿说：“绵羊一般是群居，群居时它们比较笨拙。当你让它们单独行动时，它们的表现就会有所不同。”