动物世界中那些不同物种间的亲密合作(下)

ng Eye Gobies

5."导盲犬"虾虎鱼

Pistol shrimp are named and known for their ability to snap their claws so rapidly that it creates a high pressure jet of water which can ward off pRedatory fish or stun prey. Even as armed as their arms are, it's a big ocean outside a pistol shrimp's burrow where a hungry predator might come swooping in at any time. Compounding the danger, pistol shrimp do not have particularly good eyesight.

鼓虾可以猛烈的闭合虾钳并喷射出高压水流来驱赶捕猎的鱼或振晕猎物并且因此得名。即使拥有这样的武装，在鼓虾洞穴外的大海里，饥饿的狩猎者还是可能随时发起突然袭击。更危险的是，鼓虾的视力并不太好。

This is where certain species of goby come in. Gobies, with their significantly better eyesight, act as the pistol shrimp's eyes. Much like a human being led by a seeing eye dog, the goby's tail fins remain in constant contact with the shrimp's antennae as the two go about daily activities. If a predator is seen, the goby's tail will signal the shrimp to retreat, which the goby will also do if the danger comes close enough. At night, the goby rests with the shrimp inside the free shelter provided by its tunnel. Pistol shrimp in such relationships will not go out without their goby assistants.

此时，虾虎鱼有了用武之地。视力很好的虾虎鱼扮演着鼓虾眼睛的角色。就像导盲犬引导着人类一样，在他们的日常活动中，虾虎鱼的尾鳍和鼓虾的触角保持着持续的接触。一旦发现狩猎者，虾虎鱼的尾巴会向鼓虾发出撤退的信号。即使当危险迫在眉睫时，虾虎鱼也会这样做。在晚上，虾虎鱼和鼓虾一起栖息在鼓虾的隧道里，享受这一免费庇护所。鼓虾是不会在没有他们的虾虎鱼助手的陪伴下出门的，真是一对好基友啊

-Trained Spy Ravens

4.训练有素的专业情报员——乌鸦

B.F. Skinner's operant conditioning has proven to be a very useful principle. Many applications have been derived from operant conditioning, including a seemingly innocuous tourist attraction that sprung up in Hot Springs, Arkansas in the 1960s. Called the I.Q. Zoo, this theme park featured animals trained to perform humanlike activities, such as chickens playing baseball, pigs playing the piano, and raccoons playing basketball.

著名心理学家斯金纳提出的操控性反射理论实用有效，广泛应用于多个领域。20世纪60年代，美国阿肯色州温泉度假村曾开放过一个叫做智慧动物园的旅行圣地。这个主题动物园的特色是训练一些聪慧的动物模仿人类的行为，例如：小鸡打棒球、小猪弹钢琴以及可爱的浣熊打篮球。

The cheerful I.Q. Zoo was also a government-funded testing ground for other applications of animal training such as espionage research. Ravens proved to be a particularly good subject in this regard. In addition to being able to carry surprisingly heavy loads, the ravens' intelligence enabled them to be trained to do surprisingly specific tasks, even opening file drawers and carrying file folders. It was therefore a simple matter to teach ravens to fly to a certain location indicated with a laser pointer and deposit objects, including surveillance devices. Ravens could even be trained to take pictures with a special camera carried in the bird's beak. The animals would again be directed to a window with a laser pointer where they were trained to press the little spy camera against the window.

这家主题动物园是政府为了开展诸如情报研究等其他动物培训活动而投资建立的。乌鸦在情报探测方面极有天赋，是不二选择。除了运载重物，乌鸦还可以完成其他一系列经验的任务，例如：打开放置文件的抽屉并且带走文件。因而对于驯养员来讲，训练乌鸦在激光灯或者地面标记物的指引下飞到特定的地点并非难事，因而乌鸦可以飞到人类放置好的检测器上进行"情报采集"。乌鸦可以衔着相机拍照，同时可以在激光灯的指引下飞去窗边拍下外面的一举一动，活脱脱一个受过中央情报局训练的专业情报员。

y Eel Tunnel Rats

3.隧道捕猎小能手——海鳗

Perhaps it's not too surprising to believe that coyotes, animals associated with pack hunting, might team up with badgers to catch prey, but what about two considerably less sociable fish? Groupers and moray eels are almost literally day and night when compared. Groupers hunt during the day out in the open. Of course, a prey animal pursued by a grouper can easily escape by hiding in a crevice or hole. Conversely, the more nocturnal morays sneak through narrow spaces in coral reefs to catch prey.

也许土狼与獾写作捕猎物并没有十分惊讶，若现在告诉你还有两种不擅长"交际"的鱼类互相合作，是不是会超乎想象呢？石斑鱼和鳗鱼其实差异很大。石斑鱼白天外出捕猎，当然，光天化日之下。猎物很容易躲进幽暗处藏身；相反的，鳗鱼在夜晚出没，并经常溜进珊瑚礁的缝隙里捕猎。

In the Red Sea, some groupers have learned to solicit assistance from morays. If a grouper's quarry takes shelter where the grouper can't reach, it will swim to a moray's den. The grouper shakes its head rapidly right at the mouth of the crevice, drawing the moray out despite the daytime hour. The moray is then led by the grouper to wherever the prey is hiding, a spot which the grouper will sometimes indicate with more shaking. The moray then enters the hole and kills the prey. Sometimes, the moray then eats the prey itself, but other times it gives it to the grouper. This sort of cooperative hunting has never before been observed in two different species of fish. Marine biologists have noted sufficient variability in the groupers' execution of moray leading to believe that it is in fact a learned behavior as opposed to instinct.

在红海，有些石斑鱼学会了找鳗鱼寻求帮助。如果猎物躲进了自己无法进入的庇护所，石斑鱼便游到鳗鱼的"家"，并在鳗鱼家门口快速摇头让鳗鱼出家门，接着鳗鱼就会在石斑鱼的带领下来到猎物的藏身之处一举将其擒获。鳗鱼抓获猎物后，偶尔会独享来之不易的战利品，当然更多时候，鳗鱼会与石斑鱼一同分享。这样的合作形式之前从未出现在不同的鱼类之中。生物学家表示，尽管这种合作形式并不符合鳗鱼和石斑鱼"不喜交际"的天性，但合作的确是后天可习得的。

Ants Give Caterpillars The Royal Treatment

2.食肉蚁给予毛虫贵族待遇

Meat ants, also known as gravel ants, are an incredibly territorial species native to Australia. They fiercely patrol the very well-defined boundaries of their territories, which rarely overlap with other meat ant colonies. If this occurs, groups of ants will meet, stand on their front legs, and kick each other with their hind legs. This ritualized abdomen kicking can last for days, though few ants r species aren't treated as well. Other invertebrates encroaching upon the meat ants' territory are swarmed, killed, and sometimes eaten by the omnivorous ants. Large numbers of angry workers can drive off larger animals despite their lack of stingers; the ants release foul-smelling chemicals and will bite repeatedly. The areas around their colonies, which can span as much as 650 meters (2,100 ft), may become devoid of species that are unable to coexist with ain species of caterpillar, however, not only coexist but are welcomed by the meat ants. The caterpillars in question secrete a sugary fluid that the ants consume. As a result, meat ants will protect these caterpillars from predators. In some cases, the caterpillars are kept in the ants' colonies and carried to plants to feed. (Human farmers can also benefit from meat ant colonies; dead livestock dropped on a meat ant nest will be reduced to bones, a convenient method of disposal.)

食肉蚁也称行军蚁，是澳大利亚当地一种极具领土意识的动物。它们往往在特定区域巡逻，并且这个区域很少有其它食肉蚁群出没。如果真有此情况发生，将会有成群蚂蚁集聚一起，它们前肢站立，用后肢互踢。这种特定的互踢可以持续数天，然而很少有蚂蚁死亡。如果其它无脊椎动物侵占它们领土时，这些物种将会遭殃，它们会被围剿，杀掉，甚至有时候会有一些杂食蚂蚁吞食它们。这些蚂蚁可以释放特殊气味的化学物质，并且反复刺痛那些前来挑衅的物种，因此，这些食肉蚁尽管没有刺，却可以击退比那些它们大的动物。然而，某些种类的毛虫不仅和食肉蚂蚁共处还受到它们的欢迎。 这些毛虫分泌食肉蚂蚁食用的含糖液体。因此，食肉蚂蚁会保护这些毛虫以免遭受天敌的威胁。 有时候，毛虫被保存在蚂蚁的巢穴并且被运到植物下来进食分泌物。 农民也能从食肉蚂蚁的巢穴获得便利。 家畜的尸体丢弃在食肉蚂蚁的巢穴，将会变得只剩下骨头，这就给农民处理家畜死尸提供了便利。

Tom The Whaling Killer Whale

1.捕鲸助手老汤姆

Twofold Bay, near Eden, Australia, is the third deepest natural harbor in the southern hemisphere and a known gathering point for whales; it is an ideal spot for whaling. During the 1860s, the Davidson family had a long-running and established whaling station on its shores.

位于澳大利亚的图福德湾是南半球第三深天然港，而且是有名的鲸鱼集散圣地，因此便成为了捕鲸的理想之处。19世纪60年代，戴维森家族长期运营捕鲸业并且在海滨建立了捕鲸站。

Each year, as winter moved in so did a pod of orcas. Initially, the Davidsons feared that they would interfere and take whales for themselves, but something else happened. The pod, led by a male who would become known as Old Tom, would drive baleen whales into Twofold Bay and trap them there. Next, Old Tom would swim to the whaling station and jump and slap the water with his tail to get the whalers' attention. The whalers would then go out in their boats to catch the trapped whales. Some say the orcas even protected the men by driving away sharks. When a whale had been caught and killed, its body would be left tethered in the water overnight. Old Tom and his pod would eat the lips and tongues of the whales, leaving the more valuable parts to the Davidsons. This arrangement became known as the Law of the Davidsons and Old Tom's pod maintained their working relationship for three generations of the family. Old Tom died in 1930, and his skeleton is on display at the Eden Killer Whale Museum. Soon after Old Tom's death, his pod disappeared and was not seen again. No orcas have cooperated with whalers in such a way since.

每年冬天来临，一群逆击戟鲸也会随之而来。起初，戴维森家族担心它们会干涉并占有鲸鱼，但是意想不到的事情发生了。鲸群由一头称为老汤姆的雄鲸带领，老汤姆会将须鲸赶到图福德湾并把它们围困在那里，接着它便会游到捕鲸站，用尾巴不断拍打海面，跳跃着，以引起捕鲸人的注意。然后捕鲸者驾驶捕鲸船去捕杀被围困起来的须鲸，一些人说逆戟鲸甚至会把鲨鱼赶走来保护这些捕鲸的人们。一旦鲸被捕杀了，它将会被拴住在海水中保持一夜，老汤姆和它带领的逆戟鲸群会把捕杀的鲸的唇舌吃掉，而把最宝贵的部分留给戴维森家族。这就是有名的舌头法则。戴维森和老汤姆带领的鲸群将这种工作关系维持了三代，老汤姆在1930年死了，它的骨架展览在伊甸逆戟鲸博物馆内。老汤姆死后不久，它带领的鲸群也永远消失了，从此再也没有逆戟鲸与捕鲸人合作用这种方式捕杀鲸鱼了。

翻译:哈利8=7 来源:前十网