美国国家公共电台 NPR When Bats Squeak, They Tend To Squabble

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST: 

Animals communicate - birds sing to woo their mates, the Cubs¹ sing "Go Cubs Go," BJ Leiderman wrote our theme music, wolves howl out to their pack members and fruit bats bicker².

(SOUNDBITE OF FRUIT BATS SQUEAKING)

SIMON: That symphony of squeaks³ is a cave of Egyptian fruit bats as they argue over food, mates and sleeping space. Egyptian fruit bats are part of a small group of animals that communicate individually within their species - person to person, if you please, if you were a fruit bat. Dr. Yossi Yovel is a neuro-ecologist at Tel Aviv University and part of the research team that is now decoding⁴ Egyptian fruit bat banter⁵. Dr. Yovel, thanks very much for being with us.

YOSSI YOVEL: You're welcome. Hi.

SIMON: So what are they saying to each other?

YOVEL: So it's not as if we can now understand everything, it's not as if we have a bat to English dictionary. But what we found is that this cacophony⁶ that you could hear, which is very typical if you enter a bat cave, that's exactly what it sounds like - actually contains much more information than previously⁷ believed. So all of these shouting, all of these vocalizations that were previously all categorized as aggressive vocalizations, we can now divide them. For example, we can classify whether the bats are arguing over food or over mating or over sleeping position or over other contacts. We can recognize the individuals vocalizing, and we can even to some extent say who they are vocalizing to.

SIMON: How unusual is this among animals? I mean, I know we do it, right?

YOVEL: It's only part of a big question - how complex is animal communication? When I say apple, you immediately imagine a red, round object, you know, with a certain taste. This is something that is very, very important factor in human communication. And animals have almost never been shown to have this ability. We show that bat vocalizations contain a lot of information about the context of the vocalization. For example, a third bat eavesdropping⁸ on a conversation between two individual bats can tell to some extent what is this conversation about, what is this argument about, which is more than we previously believed.

SIMON: So you mentioned food, mates and sleeping space. So does this mean the bats are saying she's mine, no, she's mine? Or I'll take that glop of whatever it is? Or you've got your claws on my head turn over?

YOVEL: Something like that. Maybe I should first point out - it's very important that bats don't only argue. OK. There are other vocalizations that bats emit.

SIMON: They support each other emotionally, I'm sure.

YOVEL: Exactly. Yeah. Some people get the wrong impression that bats only argue. We, in purpose, wanted to take this huge bulk of aggressive vocalizations and see if we can classify them. And, indeed, I think - exactly like you suggested - I think what they're saying is stuff like why did you wake me up, get out of my way. In the case of mating, it's usually the female protesting against a man who is trying to mate with her.

SIMON: Can you tell, doctor, did the fruit bats bicker much over Clinton versus⁹ Trump¹⁰?

YOVEL: (Laughter) I can say that in another study we are following bats in Mexico, and these bats are actually flying over the U.S.-Mexican border, so if there is going to be a wall there, it will have to be very, very high.

SIMON: (Laughter) Is it possible that one day human beings will be able to communicate with bats and really find out about their lives?

YOVEL: You know, step by step we are getting closer to deciphering their communication. I don't think we will, not in my time at least, be able to really talk with them, so to speak.

SIMON: Yossi Yovel is a neuro-ecologist at Tel Aviv University. Thanks so much for being with us.

YOVEL: Sure. You're welcome.

1 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 bicker   

vi.(为小事)吵嘴，争吵

参考例句：

• The two children used to bicker about who should do the washing-up.这两个小孩子过去常为该由谁洗餐具一事而争吵。
• They always bicker when they meet at school.在学校见面时他们总是争吵。

3 squeaks   

n.短促的尖叫声，吱吱声( squeak的名词复数 )v.短促地尖叫( squeak的第三人称单数 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• The upper-middle-classes communicate with each other in inaudible squeaks, like bats. 那些上中层社会的人交谈起来象是蚊子在哼哼，你根本听不见。 来自辞典例句
• She always squeaks out her ideas when she is excited. 她一激动总是尖声说出自己的想法。 来自互联网

4 decoding   

n.译码，解码v.译（码），解（码）( decode的现在分词 )；分析及译解电子信号

参考例句：

• We cannot add any other memory to this system without further decoding. 如果不增加译码，就不能使系统的存贮容量有任何扩展。 来自辞典例句
• Examples using the 8250 will be presented in hardware section to clarify full-decoding schemes. 在硬件一节中有应用说明全译码方案8250的例子。 来自辞典例句

5 banter   

n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑

参考例句：

• The actress exchanged banter with reporters.女演员与记者相互开玩笑。
• She engages in friendly banter with her customers.她常和顾客逗乐。

6 cacophony   

n.刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• All around was bubbling a cacophony of voices.周围人声嘈杂。
• The drivers behind him honked,and the cacophony grew louder.后面的司机还在按喇叭，且那刺耳的声音越来越大。

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

9 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

10 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。