Myths About Animals 有關(guān)動物的謬誤

With around 8.7 million animal species gracing our planet， its no wonder that we have some facts about animals totally wrong. Some animals and their behavior remain mysterious to scientists and its only through long-term research and observation that theyve been able to bust a number of animal myths. Heres a list of well-known but utterly false facts about some animals that grace our planet.

大約有870萬種動物先后光臨我們的星球，也難怪我們對動物的有些認識是完全錯誤的。一些動物及其行為對科學(xué)家來說依然是個謎，只有通過長期的研究和觀察，他們才得以破解很多有關(guān)動物的謬誤。下面列出的是關(guān)于光臨我們星球的一些動物的眾所周知但完全錯誤的說法。

Myth 1： Dogs cannot see color， only black and white.

謬誤1：狗只能看見黑色和白色。

Dogs can see color， but not as wide a spectrum as humans can. In addition to black， white and shades of grey they can also distinguish between blue and yellow colors. Your pup may very well confuse yellow， orange and green. All of these colors look yellowish to a dog. The color red appears dark brownish or black to dogs. Researchers have shown that a dogs eye has both rods and cones， although they only have two cones whereas a human eye has three. Only if dogs had no cones at all would they have been restricted to seeing black and white.

狗是可以看到顏色的，但其光譜不如人類的寬。除了黑色、白色和灰色陰影，它們還可以區(qū)分藍色和黃色。你家的小狗很可能會混淆黃色、橙色和綠色，這些顏色在狗狗看來都是黃色，而紅色在狗狗眼里呈現(xiàn)的是深褐色或黑色。研究人員表示，狗的眼睛中既有視桿也有視錐，但它們的眼睛只有兩個視錐，而人類的眼睛有3個。只有當狗根本就沒有視錐的情況下，它們才會只能看到黑色和白色。

Myth 2： Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when scared or threatened.

謬誤2：鴕鳥在受到驚嚇或威脅時把頭埋在沙子里。

Although this myth serves as a metaphor for someone whos clearly in denial about something or other， the fact is that its patently untrue. The truth is that ostriches， or any other bird or mammal， would not be able to breathe if its head were buried in the sand. The simple explanation for this myth is that ostriches bury their eggs in holes in the ground and often turn the eggs （with their beaks） and tend to the eggs several times a day. From a distance it often seems like the ostrich has its head buried in the sand.

雖然這個謬誤可用于比喻那些視而不見、自欺欺人的人，但事實上，這是完全錯誤的。真相是，鴕鳥或任何其他鳥類或哺乳動物，如果把自己的頭埋在沙子里，就不能呼吸。對這一謬誤的簡單解釋就是鴕鳥把蛋埋在地洞里，常常一天翻動幾次（用自己的喙）并看護鳥蛋。從遠處看，總是看起來像是鴕鳥把自己的頭埋在沙子里。

Myth 3： Owls are the wisest among birds.

謬誤3：貓頭鷹是鳥類中最聰明的。

Perhaps the earliest known link between owls and wisdom is their association with Athena， as the Greek goddess of wisdom is often depicted holding an owl. With their overly large eyes and the constant serious， almost thoughtful look on their faces， owls give off the impression of wisdom， of being a cut above the rest. From legends， folklore， childrens tales to Hollywood films， owls have always been the night watchmen—sometimes sinister， always smart. Unfortunately owls are actually placed on the lower-end of intelligent birds.

也許貓頭鷹和智慧之間的聯(lián)系最早可追溯到它們與雅典娜的關(guān)系，這位希臘智慧女神常被描繪成手持一只貓頭鷹。貓頭鷹有著超大的眼睛，表情嚴肅，一副若有所思的神情，給人留下智慧的印象，好似比其他鳥類高出一籌。從傳奇、民間傳說、兒童故事到好萊塢電影，貓頭鷹一直是夜間守望者——有時陰險，但總是很聰明。然而不幸的是，貓頭鷹實際上處于低智力鳥類之列。

Myth 4： One human year is equivalent to seven dog years.

謬誤4：人類的1年相當于狗的7年。

Heres something to think about： At a young age， a small dog is older than a large dog， but with age， the small dog becomes younger than the larger breed. How can this be？ Turns out dog aging is quite complex， and the most important factor is that its related to the dogs physical size. Larger breeds age much faster than smaller breeds. Its thought that on average a two-year old dog compares to a teenager of 14 or 15 years or a young adult of 18 to 25 years， depending on the breed. Dog aging slows down after two years， debunking the seven to one ratio. The ratio between dog years and human years is therefore much more complex than seven to one， and there is no specific dog-to-human age ratio that is universally accepted.

想一想下面這些事：在狗小的時候，一只小狗比一只大狗年齡大，但隨著年齡的增長，小狗變得比大犬種更年輕。這怎么可能呢？原來狗的老化是相當復(fù)雜的，最重要的因素是與狗的身體大小有關(guān)。大犬種的老化程度遠遠快于較小犬種。人們認為，通常兩歲的狗相當于14或15歲的少年或18到25歲的年輕人，這取決于不同的犬種。狗的老化速度兩年后減緩，揭穿了7∶1的假象。所以，狗年和人類年之比的復(fù)雜程度遠非7∶1那么簡單。目前尚未有公認的、具體的狗與人類的年齡比。

Myth 5： Wild dolphins are friendly and will save humans in trouble.

謬誤5：野生海豚非常友好，總是拯救陷入困境的人類。

Dolphins dont particularly care for humans; why would they？ They are after all wild carnivores of the ocean. The myth that wild dolphins are friendly and will make haste to your assistance when youre in trouble is a result of their curious nature which is often mistaken for caring or friendliness. For example， dolphins swimming next to boats are doing so in order to ride the boats wake， allowing them to use less energy to swim; not because of their love for all things human. In fact many people have been bitten or injured while attempting to swim with wild dolphins （were not talking about the trained dolphins seen at marine parks）. There is， however， one way in which dolphins are helping humans： relative research helped scientists understand how dolphins survive shark attacks， and their tissue-regeneration and anti-bacterial properties are considered nothing short of a medical miracle.

海豚并不特別關(guān)心人類，它們憑什么要這樣做呢？它們畢竟是海洋中的野生食肉動物。話說野生海豚非常友好，當你遇到麻煩時它們總是急忙趕來幫忙，實際上是因為它們好奇的天性，常常被誤認為是出自關(guān)心或友好。例如，海豚在船只旁邊游是為了借力船的尾流，這樣它們游起來更省力，不是因為它們喜愛一切人類的東西。事實上，許多人在試圖與野生海豚（我們說的不是在海洋公園看到的訓(xùn)練有素的海豚）同游時被咬過或因此受傷。然而，海豚確實在用一種方式幫助人類：相關(guān)的研究幫助科學(xué)家弄明白海豚如何在鯊魚的襲擊中活下來，而它們的組織再生和抗菌性能被認為是一個醫(yī)學(xué)奇跡。

Myth 6： Bats are blind.

謬誤6：蝙蝠是瞎的。

Often associated with darkness， witches and black magic， bats have a lot of mythology and misconceptions surrounding them. Although people often think bats are blind due to their only hunting at night， the fact is that all species of bats can see， although their vision is poorly developed. To compensate they have excellent senses of smell and hearing， and are able to use echo-location and sonar abilities to navigate and hunt at night. Their sonar abilities are so exceptional that theyre often better than military-grade sonar， which is amazing for such small animals.

人們常將蝙蝠與黑暗、巫師和巫術(shù)聯(lián)系起來，它們周身有很多神話和誤解。盡管人們常常因為蝙蝠只在夜間獵食而認為它們是瞎的，但事實上，所有種類的蝙蝠都可以看到東西，盡管它們的視力并不發(fā)達。然而，失之東隅收之桑榆，它們具有非常敏銳的嗅覺和聽覺，能使用回聲定位和聲吶感應(yīng)能力來導(dǎo)航和在夜間捕食。它們的聲吶感應(yīng)能力是如此特殊，常常比軍用級聲吶更好用，這種小動物的這一功能著實令人稱奇。

distinguish /d?'st??gw??/ v. 區(qū)分;辨別

At what age are children able to distinguish between right and wrong？

depict /d?'p?kt/ v. 描繪;描畫

a cut above優(yōu)于;比……高一等

His latest novel is a cut above the rest.

wake /we?k/ n.（船只航行時的）尾流，航跡

attempt /?'tempt/ v. 嘗試;試圖

I will attempt to answer all your questions.