科学美国人60秒 SSS 草原田鼠面临的爱情诱惑(1)

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Ashleigh Papp.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是阿什利·帕普。

Monogamy in animals…and let's be honest, in humans too…is a funny thing.

动物的一夫一妻制，老实说，人类的一夫一妻制也很有趣。

Only a few animal species have been lumped into the one-partner-for-life category, and even then, there are exceptions to those rules.

只有少数动物物种被归为终身伴侣类别，即便如此，这些规则也有例外。

Prairie voles are furry¹ little rodents³ that live throughout North America.

草原田鼠是一种毛茸茸的小型啮齿动物，生活在北美各地。

They’re a particularly interesting species because they form lifelong partnerships⁵.

它们是一种特别有趣的物种，因为它们会形成终身伴侣关系。

Annaliese Beery, a behavioral neuroscientist with Smith College in Massachusetts and the University of California at Berkeley, studies vole monogamy in the wild and in the lab.

马萨诸塞州史密斯学院和加州大学伯克利分校的行为神经学家安娜莉丝·比里在野外和实验室中研究田鼠的一夫一妻制。

So I would define monogamy as a formation of a lasting⁶ partnership⁴ or a social relationship between mates.

所以我将一夫一妻制定义为一种持久的伴侣关系或配偶之间的社会关系。

Social relationships are very important for human biology and prairie voles are one of the only species that are studied in the lab that exhibit this trait.

社会关系对人类的生物学来说非常重要，而草原田鼠是实验室中仅有的表现出这一特征的物种之一。

Monogamy is fairly rare in rodents, and it's also unusual for rodents to form lasting social relationships of any kind.

一夫一妻制在啮齿动物中是相当罕见的，而且啮齿动物也不太可能形成任何形式的持久社会关系。

We already know about some things that support monogamy in the wild—like when mates are scarce and it makes sense to hold onto the one you're with, or when both sexes stick around to raise their young.

我们已经了解到支持野外一夫一妻制的一些事情，比如当配偶稀少时，抓住和你在一起的配偶是有意义的，或者当两性都坚持抚养他们的孩子时，这样做也是有意义的。

But so far, there isn't one clear explanation as to why or how animals opt⁷ for only one partner.

但到目前为止，对于动物为什么或怎么只选择一个伴侣，还没有一个明确的解释。

Whatever the reasons, staying monogamous requires effort from both sides.

不管是什么原因，保持一夫一妻制需要双方的努力。

To better understand how lifelong bonding works, Beery and her team wanted to know if both male and female prairie voles make equal investments in making the long haul work.

为了更好地理解终生的感情纽带是如何起作用的，比里和她的团队想要知道，雄性和雌性草原田鼠在维持长期的感情关系方面是否都有同等的投入。

To find out, the researchers set up an experiment with three phases.

为了找到答案，研究人员设置了一个分为三个阶段的实验。

In the first phase, they had to teach the prairie voles how to open a door controlled by a lever.

在第一阶段，他们必须教草原田鼠如何打开一扇由杠杆控制的门。

It was actually really hard to get prairie voles to press a lever for a reward.

实际上，要让草原田鼠按下杠杆获得奖励是非常困难的。

And we had some voles who never learned the task, and they were not included in the study.

我们有一些田鼠从来没有学会过这项任务，它们没有被包括在这项研究中。

We had other voles who learned to press the lever in non-typical ways.

其他田鼠学会了以非典型的方式按杠杆，

One female liked to sit on the lever in order to activate⁸ it.

一只雌性田鼠喜欢坐在杠杆上，以启动它。

And then one day, something clicked and she turned around and started pressing it with her paw and getting the food pellet in the ordinary way.

然后有一天，有个东西咔哒一声响了起来，她转过身来，开始用爪子按它，然后就像平常一样得到了食物团子。

The team built on that skill by associating the lever pressing with a door opening.

该团队通过将按压杠杆与打开门联系起来建立了这项技能。

In phase two, there were two doors, controlled by two different levers.

在第二阶段，有由两个不同的杠杆控制的两扇门。

One of the doors led to a cushy rodent² pad complete with wood shavings, fresh produce and even Cheerios, while the other led to a shallow pool of water.

其中一扇门通向一个舒适的啮齿类动物垫子，上面有木屑、新鲜农产品，甚至还有脆谷乐，而另一扇门通向一个浅水池。

The voles could distinguish between two doors, two levers, and two different outcomes.

田鼠能够区分两扇门、两根杠杆和两种不同的结果。

And ultimately, both the males and females overwhelmingly pressed the lever that took them into the cushy chamber⁹ over the water torture.

最终，雄性和雌性都以压倒性的优势按下了把它们带进舒适房间的杠杆，而让它们受到落水折磨的房间。

In phase 3, they took a quick break from the lever pressing and introduced each vole to a member of the opposite sex.

在第三阶段，他们在按压杠杆的过程中稍事休息，然后将每只田鼠介绍给异性田鼠。

The two voles got 48 hours to bond and grow fond…and then the lever pressing resumed.

两只田鼠有48小时的时间来培养感情，然后继续按杠杆。

Each of the trained voles were given the option of two levers and two doors again.

每只经过训练的田鼠又有两根杠杆和两扇门可供选择。

But this time, one of the doors led to their partner and the other led to a new member of the opposite sex.

但这一次，一扇门通向他们的伴侣，另一扇门通向一个新的异性伴侣。

1 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

2 rodent   

n.啮齿动物；adj.啮齿目的

参考例句：

• When there is a full moon,this nocturnal rodent is careful to stay in its burrow.月圆之夜，这种夜间活动的啮齿类动物会小心地呆在地洞里不出来。
• This small rodent can scoop out a long,narrow tunnel in a very short time.这种小啮齿动物能在很短的时间里挖出一条又长又窄的地道来。

3 rodents   

n.啮齿目动物( rodent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Rodents carry diseases and are generally regarded as pests. 啮齿目动物传播疾病，常被当作害虫对待。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some wild rodents in Africa also harbor the virus. 在非洲，有些野生啮齿动物也是储毒者。 来自辞典例句

4 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

5 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

6 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

7 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

8 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

9 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。