狒狒的群体够民主吗

AS IT IS 2015-07-13 Are Baboons¹ Democratic? 狒狒的群体够民主吗

A team of scientists has found a surprise element to the social structure of baboons: democracy. The animals live in groups with a single male leader. But, apparently², obedience³ to the leader is not always the rule.

Margaret Crofoot is a primatologist at the University of California, Davis. She led the scientists in their study of wild baboons at the Mpala Research Center in Kenya.

The team placed GPS devices on 25 baboons. They recorded the animals’ movements for two weeks. The devices provided about 20 million points of data.

The scientists examined the data by measuring the distance between two baboons. How that distance changed provided a picture of how the group moved as a whole.

Ms. Crofoot says she was surprised that the baboons did not follow the group’s lead, or dominant⁴, male. Her team found that the majority ruled the group’s movements. The animals followed the direction set by the most baboons. Ms. Crofoot says the results show that dominant individuals only direct what the group does some of the time. She says at other times the process is more egalitarian and democratic.

Individual baboons decide where to go by looking around to see where others are going. Looking to one’s neighbors when deciding where to go is not unusual for birds and fish. But it was not expected for baboons.

Scientist Crofoot says when the baboons could not compromise about a direction, they often had to stop and think about the issue. This meant losing time for eating, playing, socializing and other activities.

So, the urge to move with the crowd may be the greatest evolutionary⁵ invention in support of unity⁶.

Words in This Story

primatologist – n. a person who studies primates⁷ especially other than recent humans

data – n. facts or information used usually to calculate, analyze⁸, or plan something

dominant – adj. more important, powerful, or successful than most or all others

egalitarian – adj. aiming for equal wealth, status, etc. among members in a group

evolutionary – adj. concerning or relating to a process of slow change and development

1 baboons   

n.狒狒( baboon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Baboons could break branches and leaders. 狒狒会折断侧枝和顶梢。 来自辞典例句
• And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

4 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

5 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

6 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

7 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

8 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。