世界上10种看起来像虚构却真实存在的动物(上)
From winged dragons and unicorns, to Bigfoot and the Chupacabra, we humans have imagined a vast menagerie of animals that don't actually exist.
从飞龙，独角兽，再到大脚怪，卓伯卡不拉，人们可以虚构一大群实际上并不存在的动物。We tend to be so engrossed in fantasy creatures that we don't pay much attention to many of the 7.7 million different animal species that scientists estimate really live on our planet.
科学家们已经证实了在地球上有770万类物种是真实存在的。但人们过于痴迷于那些假想出来的虚幻生物，以至于对真实存在的物种少了些许关注。Some are so colorful and bizarre that they alMost seem as if some overeager fabulist made them up.
一些真实存在的动物色彩艳丽，长相奇异，就如同出自某位寓言家之口。
Take, for example, the golden lion tamarin, whose lush, resplendent mane and scowling visage make it look like a miniature version of one of those late-1980s heavy metal rockers on MTV.
就比如说：金线绒，它拥有一身茂密且富有光泽的毛发，再加上一副愁眉不展的面容，就好像20世纪80年代后期在音乐电视频频露脸的重金属摇滚乐手的翻版；Then there's the axolotl, which uses its stubby legs to crawl along the bottoms of lakebeds, and the dingiso, a tiny kangaroo-like creature that hops around on tree branches instead of on the ground.
再比如说，白化六角恐龙（又称墨西哥蝾螈），它拥有短而粗壮的四肢，以此来支撑它在湖底爬行；还有白腹树袋熊，一种小型生物，长相颇似袋鼠。但不同之处是，它的移动方式是跳转于树杈之间而不是在陆地上行走。But as we revel in this biodiversity, we also should remember that many of the world's most incredible creatures are threatened by deforestation, climate change and other human-induced activities in the environment.
当我们沉醉于物种的多样性时，也应注意到一些新奇的物种正遭受着森林采伐，气候变暖以及其他人类活动所引发的环境问题所造成的威胁。WWF warns we're losing hundreds and possibly thousands of species each year, an extinction rate that far exceeds the ordinary ebb and flow of nature. It's up to us to save them.
世界野生动物基金发出的通告称：每年就有成百上千乃至成千上万的物种正在或已经消失。物种消失率远远超过了自然的正常衰退水平。而要挽救这些物种，要靠我们大家共同的力量。In that spirit, here are 10 animal species so strange and wonderful that they seem make-believe. And many are in danger of extinction.
怀着这样的心情，今天给大家带来了10种长相奇特却又十分绝妙的动物。这些动物看似虚假却是真实存在。同时，他们正面临着濒临灭绝的危险。iso
10.白腹树袋熊Imagine a tiny black-and-white kangaroo that lives in trees, and you've got the basic description of the dingiso.
对白腹树袋熊的基本描述，可以说是一只居住在树上，黑白相间的小型袋鼠。The animal, which resides in the mountainous rainforests of New Guinea, grows to as much as 2.5 feet (76 centimeters) in length, possesses a long tail, well-developed hindquarters and a habit of moving both its hind feet at the same time in a hopping gait, just like the bigger Australian kangaroos that we're all familiar with.
白腹树袋熊主要分布在新几内亚的多山雨林中，可长至2.5尺（76厘米）长。它有着长长的尾巴，强有力的四肢，这使它形成了利用后肢跳跃的移动方法。这与我们所熟知的澳大利亚袋鼠十分相似。
The dingiso sports curved nails and cushioned pads lined with rough skin on its large feet, which enable it to get a grip on tree trunks and branches, where it uses its long tail for balance as it climbs.
在白腹树袋熊攀爬的过程中，弯曲的指甲、宽大的爪子上坚硬皮肤以及爪心肉垫的完美搭配使其可以牢牢地扎住树干及树枝；尾巴则用来保持平衡。Like the kangaroo, the female dingiso has a pouch on its abdomen, where its young ride as they suckle milk from one of its four breasts.
和袋鼠一样，雌性白腹树袋熊的腹部有一个育儿袋，有四个乳房供其孩子吮吸乳汁。Sadly, their numbers are declining due to loss of habitat, hunters and a low birthrate.
可悲的是，由于栖息地的缺失，猎人的捕杀以及较低的出生率，白腹树袋熊的数量正在不断减少。do Dragon
9.科莫多巨蜥In the ancient world and right up through the Middle Ages, people told tales of monstrous giant reptiles called dragons, which sometimes sported bat wings and barbed tails, and wreaked carnage by breathing fire.
自远古时代直至中世纪时期，有很多关于巨型爬行动物的传说，人们将此类爬行动物称之为龙。龙被人们刻画成了一个恐怖的形象：拥有一对大的可怕的翅膀，一条有刺的尾巴，会喷火且滥杀无辜。But that macabre fantasy creature turns out to have a real-life cousin.
这种貌似只会出现在人们幻想中的可怕动物，在现实世界中却也有其翻版。
In 1912, naturalists discovered the Komodo dragon, a lizard from Indonesia that grows up to 11 feet (3.5 meters) in length.
1912年，自然主义者发现了科莫多巨蜥。这是一种来自印度尼西亚的类蜥蜴爬行动物，长至11尺（3.5米）。These reptiles are plenty scary in their own right. They're carnivorous hunters, and on occasion they've even dined upon humans.
科莫多巨蜥是食肉动物，有时甚至会捕食人类。While they lack fiery breath, they exhale something nearly as deadly — a virulent bacteria, which infects wounds caused by the dragon's teeth and causes them to rot and fester.
当它们生气时，便会分泌出致命性物质，一旦被其咬伤，从其牙齿中分泌出来的有毒液体会使伤口化脓以至腐烂。t Squid
8.巨型鱿鱼Ancient lore is full of multi-limbed sea monsters such as the Scylla of Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey," which had 12 feet, six heads and a bark like a dog.
古老的传说中，关于多肢海洋生物的描述比比皆是，比如荷马史诗中有着六头十二足，声音如犬吠的锯缘青蟹“奥德赛”。But in 1873, scientists got their first inkling of a real-life creature that resembled this one, when a Newfoundland fisherman caught a large tentacle-laden sea animal inadvertently and sold it to an amateur naturalist, the Rev. Moses Harvey.
而在1873年，一个纽芬兰的渔夫意外捕获了一只身上长满触手的巨型鱿鱼并把它卖给了一个业余的博物学家—传教士-摩西哈维，科学家们首次找到类似这种海洋怪物的现实生物。
The giant squid (genus: Architeuthis), can grow to up to 43 feet (13 meters) in length, and weigh as much as a ton (907 kilograms).
巨型鱿鱼（大王乌贼属）可以长到43英尺（13米）长，重近一吨（907公斤）。It has two eyes, a beak, eight arms, and two feeding tentacles equipped with sharp-toothed suckers that can grab prey as much as 33 feet (10 meters) away.
它有两眼一嘴八臂，还有两条配备着尖齿吸盘并可伸入33英尺（10米）远的“高空”去捕捉猎物的进食触手。Because the immense creature lives deep underwater, humans never saw a living one until 2006, when a research team in the Pacific Ocean south of Japan managed to hook a 24-foot (7.3 meter)-long specimen and pull it to the ocean surface.
因为这种“低调”的家伙生活在深海中，所以直到2006年有一个研究小组在太平洋南日本海里设法钩住了一个24英尺（7.3米）高的巨型鱿鱼并把它拉到海洋表面，人们才得以一睹其真容。
