科学美国人60秒 SSS 倭黑猩猩妈妈监管儿子的私生活（在线收听）

This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。

Some parents get overly involved in their kids' personal lives, but bonobo mothers take this tendency to the extreme. They fix up their adult sons with a female of their choosing, and they even keep other males from getting near their future daughter-in-law. The behavior may seem overbearing, but it boosts the odds they'll be surrounded by grandkids. That's according to a study in the journal Current Biology.

有些父母会过分介入孩子的私生活，但倭黑猩猩妈妈将这种倾向发挥到了极致。她们为自已的成年儿子安排她们选中的雌性，她们甚至阻止其他雄性接近她们未来的儿媳。这种行为可能看起来很蛮横，但却增加了她们儿孙满堂的几率。这是《当代生物学》期刊上一篇研究得出的结论。

Researchers studying wild bonobos in the Congo noticed that some females behaved a bit like males—fighting over fertile females and fending off some of the males who come a-courtin'. That observation struck primatologist Martin Surbeck as odd.

研究野生倭黑猩猩的研究人员注意到，一些雌性倭黑猩猩的行为有点像雄性，她们会为争夺有繁育能力的雌性而打架，还会阻挡前来求爱的其他雄性。这一观察结果让灵长类动物学家马丁·瑟贝克感到吃惊。

"So I just wondered, hey what is it actually of their business, no? Most of the mammals it's just a male business, this competition over the access to females."

“我只是想知道，嘿，她们到底在干什么？大多数哺乳动物都是雄性在争夺接近雌性的机会。”

To get to the bottom of this unusual activity, Surbeck, who is currently at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, got DNA samples from the players in this melodrama.

为了弄清这种不同寻常的行为，目前在马克斯·普朗克进化人类学研究所工作的瑟贝克，从这部传奇剧的主角身上提取了DNA。

"And so it became more apparent when we did the paternity analysis and it turned out these females were mothers of some males. And in this female-dominated society of bonobos the mother acts kind of like a social passport, allowing their sons to be more central in the group and therefore having more opportunities to interact with other females."

“当我们做父本分析时，答案变得愈加清晰，结果显示，这些雌性倭黑猩猩是一些雄性的母亲。在女性占主导的倭黑猩猩社会中，母亲的角色有点像是社交通行证，可以使她们的儿子在群体中处于更核心的地位，继而拥有更多与其他雌性互动的机会。”

And after the moms introduce their sons to the most desirable ladies, they make sure the couple won't be interrupted. As a result:

在母亲将自已最满意的雌性介绍给儿子后，她们还要确保这一对不被打扰。结果是：

"We found that males have about three times higher likelihood to sire offspring while their mom was still alive in the community."

“我们发现，当其母亲依旧在群体中存活时，雄性繁衍后代的可能性增加了3倍。”

In contrast, mothers of the closely related chimpanzees don't chaperone their sons. In fact, male chimps are less likely to sire offspring when their moms are around. Seems that chimps prefer privacy for their monkey business.

相比之下，作为倭黑猩猩的近亲，黑猩猩的母亲就不会陪护自已的儿子。事实上，母亲在身边时，雄性黑猩猩不太可能繁殖后代。看起来，黑猩猩在“房事”方面更注重隐私。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。