No sex please, we're condors

禿鷹：性愛就不必了

Few animals have come closer to extinction, and yet survived, than the Californian condor. By 1982, there were only 22 left.

很少有物種比加州禿鷹更接近于滅絕、卻最終仍然存續(xù)了下去。到 1982 年，世界上僅剩下 22 只加州禿鷹。

These relicts were rounded up and brought into a captive-breeding programme that proved an astonishing success. There are now 329 condors flying freely in western North America, and 175 more in the care of various zoos.

這些殘遺種被人工圍捕起來，并被納入了一個圈養(yǎng)繁殖計劃中；后來事實證明，該計劃取得了驚人的成績。目前，有 329 只加州禿鷹在北美西部自由翱翔，還有 175 只在各大動物園里得到照料。

As the precision of those numbers suggests, these birds are among the most closely monitored in the world. It therefore came as a shock to Oliver Ryder, a geneticist, when he discovered that two of the females he was scrutinising had laid eggs unfertilised by males, which then went on to hatch.

正如那些數(shù)字的精確程度表明的那樣，這些禿鷹是世界上受到最密切監(jiān)視的鳥類之一。因此，當遺傳學家奧利弗·萊德發(fā)現(xiàn)，自己在密切觀察中的兩只雌鳥生了未受精的蛋，接著蛋還孵化成功時，他感到無比震驚。

Parthenogenesis, as this form of male-free reproduction is known, is common in invertebrates and not unheard of in vertebrates. But it has rarely been recorded in birds, and when seen it has always been in circumstances when no males were around and it was therefore the only reproductive option available.

孤雌生殖——又被稱為單性生殖——在無脊椎動物中很常見，在脊椎動物中也并非聞所未聞。但該現(xiàn)象在鳥類中鮮有記錄。即使出現(xiàn)過，它也總是在雌鳥身邊沒有雄性的情況下才發(fā)生；此時，孤雌生殖是雌鳥唯有的生殖選擇。

In this instance, neither chick prospered. One failed to thrive and probably died of starvation at the age of two. The other died of complications from a foot injury when it was nearly eight years old.

在此次案例中，（通過孤雌生殖出生的）兩只雛鳥都沒能好好長大。一只沒能茁壯成長，可能在 2 歲時就餓死了。另一只在近 8 歲時死于腳傷引發(fā)的并發(fā)癥。

At the moment, it is hard to know whether Dr Ryder has stumbled on an intriguing and previously unperceived mode of avian reproduction, or an aberration of little wider significance.*** But if condors, and possibly other bird species, are routinely reproducing by parthenogenesis, then some rewriting of the textbooks will definitely be in order.

目前，我們很難得知萊德博士到底是意外發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種有趣的、未曾被發(fā)現(xiàn)的鳥類繁殖方式，還是說這只是一個沒有什么更廣泛意義的偶發(fā)事件。但是，如果禿鷹以及其他可能的鳥類經(jīng)常通過孤雌生殖來繁衍后代，那么我們的教科書必將做出一些修改。

主編：Felicity、Dobby、啾笛

品控：Felicity、迎迎

審核：樂崽

重點詞匯

condor

/?kɑ?n.d??r/

n. 禿鷹

文化補充：文章這里具體指代“加州禿鷹”（Californian condor）。加州禿鷹是北美鳥類中體型最龐大的一種（重約 10 公斤，翅膀長度約 3 米），也是北美最瀕臨滅絕的鳥類之一。它靠食用動物的尸體及腐肉為生，也被稱為自然界的“清道夫”，是生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中非常重要的一個物種。

relict

/?rel?kt/

n. 殘遺種，孑遺種

相關(guān)詞匯：relic（n. 遺跡，遺物）

英文釋義：an animal or plant that has survived while others of its group have become extinct

文化補充：relict 最早在中世紀時期指“寡婦”（a widow）；文中，relict 則表示“殘遺種，孑遺種”，它是指過去分布廣泛，但現(xiàn)在僅存在于某些局限地區(qū)的古老動植物種。

round up

使圍攏，使聚攏

相關(guān)詞匯：round（v. 使變成圓）

詞性拓展：round（n. 圓形）

例句：In the afternoon the cows are rounded up for milking.

captive-breeding

/?k?p.t?v ?bri?.d??/

adj.（尤指稀有野生動物）人工飼養(yǎng)、圈養(yǎng)的

相關(guān)詞匯：captive（n. 被捕獲的動物；囚徒，俘虜）

相關(guān)詞匯：breed（v. 飼養(yǎng)，培育；繁殖，育種）

例句：Many animals breed only at certain times of the year.（繁殖，育種）

例句：These dogs were originally bred in Scotland to round up sheep.（飼養(yǎng)，培育）

geneticist

/d???net?.?.s?st/

n. 遺傳學家

相關(guān)詞匯：genetics（n. 遺傳學）

scrutinise

/?skru?.t??n.a?z/

v. 仔細查看，認真檢查

英文釋義：to examine closely and thoroughly

例句：The report was scrutinised before publication.

hatch

/h?t?/

v.（蛋）孵化，破殼；孵（蛋）

例句：Mother hen would find a warm place to hatch her eggs.（孵（蛋））

reproduction

/?ri?.pr??d?k.??n/

n. 繁殖，繁育

相關(guān)詞匯：reproduce（v. 繁殖，繁育）

搭配短語：sexual reproduction

相關(guān)詞匯：reproductive（adj. 生殖的，繁殖的）

invertebrate

/?n?v??.t??.br?t/

n. 無脊椎動物

相關(guān)詞匯：vertebrate（n. 脊椎動物）

文化補充：無脊椎動物是背側(cè)沒有脊柱的動物，包括原生動物、棘皮動物、扁形動物、環(huán)節(jié)動物等。海里的珊瑚蟲、缽水母，陸上的蝸牛及蜘蛛等都屬于無脊椎動物。

脊椎動物指有脊椎的動物，它們一般體形左右對稱，有比較完善的感覺器官、運動器官和高度分化的神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)；包括圓口類、魚類、兩棲動物、爬行動物、鳥類和哺乳動物等六大類。

prosper

/?prɑ?.sp?/

v. 健康成長；發(fā)展，繁榮

例句：China's economy is prospering with each passing day.

近義詞：thrive；flourish

英文釋義：to grow strong and healthy

thrive

/θra?v/

v. 健康成長，茂盛生長

例句：Few plants can thrive in the deserts.

complication

/?kɑ?m.pl??ke?.??n/

n. 并發(fā)癥

stumble on

偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)

相關(guān)詞匯：stumble（v. 絆腳）

近義詞：trip（v. 絆腳）

例句：I stumbled / tripped over my cat and fell.

英文釋義：to discover somebody or something unexpectedly

例句：Newton stumbled on his law of gravity after he was hit by an apple.

近義詞組：come across（偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)，偶然遇見）

intriguing

/?n?tri?.ɡ??/

adj. 非常有趣的，引人入勝的

相關(guān)詞匯：intrigue（v. 激發(fā)興趣，引起好奇）

英文釋義：very interesting because of being unusual or mysterious

搭配短語：an intriguing book

avian

/?e?.vi.?n/

adj. 與鳥類有關(guān)的

英文釋義：of or relating to birds

aberration

/??b.??re?.??n/

n. 偶發(fā)事件，非典型行為；反?，F(xiàn)象

be in order

適宜的，適合的

相關(guān)詞匯：order（n. 次序）

搭配短語：in order（按次序）

英文釋義：appropriate in a circumstance

例句：Maybe some professional expert opinions are in order here.