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This episode of SciShow is brought to you by Skillshare.
本期《科学秀》由Skillshare赞助播出。
I don't know if you've noticed, but zebras look an awful lot like horses.
不知道大家有没有注意到，斑马和马非常相像。
They're even part of the same equine family, and you can cross-breed them into an animal called a zorse.
它们甚至属于同种马科动物，它们可以杂交出一种被称为zorse的动物。
But no matter how similar they look, don't be fooled: Thanks to their biology and evolution, you just can't ride a zebra.
但是不管它们长得有多像也不要被它们给骗了：由于生物学和进化，斑马是不能骑的。
It's a beautiful, stripey, majestic trap.
这是一个美丽又庄严的条纹陷阱。
According to archeological evidence, humans have been taming horses for at least 5500 years,
考古佐证，人类的斑马驯化史至少有5500年，
but our relationship with zebras goes back much further.
但是人类和斑马的关系要追溯到更久以前。
Humans and zebras have spent millions of years together because both species evolved alongside each other in Africa
人类和斑马相处了百万年，因为两种物种都在非洲进化
and that's actually where the problems with zebra riding start.
这也正是骑斑马的问题根源所在。
Because even though we've spent millennia together, it's not like humans and zebras were best buddies.
因为虽然两物种相处了千年，但人类和斑马并不是好朋友。
For quite a while, early humans saw zebras as food, and not much else.
在相当长的一段时间里，早期人类将斑马看成是食物。
There's even evidence that we hunted them, so our striped neighbors kind of grew up knowing that people were bad news.
甚至有人类狩猎斑马的证据，所以人类的这位条纹邻居从小就知道人类不是好货。
According to some researchers, that means they could be predisposed to fear us.
一些研究人员表示，这意味着它们有害怕人类的倾向。
Horses, meanwhile, didn't encounter people until much later,
同时，马是在相对晚些时候才和人类相遇，
and we likely didn't hunt them long enough for them to pick up the same fear.
我们对马的猎捕历史还不足以让它们对人类产生同样的害怕。
But even though we totally started our relationship off on the wrong foot, there's actually an even bigger problem with zebras:
但是即便人类和斑马的关系从一开始就不好，斑马自身也有甚至更大的问题：
Their evolutionary history has made them just plain nasty.
它们的进化历史让它们非常难对付。
They spend their whole lives surrounded by large predators like lions, cheetahs, and hyenas,
它们一生都被大型捕食者，如狮子、猎豹和土狼所包围，
so they have a really well-developed fight and flight response. That means zebras are flightier than horses, and a lot more aggressive.
所以它们有着一套非常完备的战斗和逃跑反应。这意味着斑马比马更狂躁，更具攻击性。
Corner a zebra, and it will bite and kick and in general try to end you because those are the kind of skills it needs to survive in the wild.
困住一只斑马，这只斑马会咬你、拿蹄子踢你，通常会弄死你，因为所有这些都是野外生存必备技能。
And a zebra's kick is serious business.
斑马的一脚很致命。
An adult zebra can kick hard enough to break a lion's jaw, and zebras injure more American zookeepers than any other zoo animal.
一只成年斑马的蹄子足以踢断狮子的下巴，大部分美国动物管理员都是被斑马所伤。
This aggressiveness is such a big deal that some researchers have even looked for a genetic component to it,
这种攻击性很重要，所以一些研究人员甚至在其中寻找一种遗传组分，
although they haven't found anything conclusive yet.
虽然他们还没有发现任何确定性的结果。
Either way, trying to convince a zebra to let you ride it is just asking to get hurt.
不管怎样，试图骑斑马就是自寻死路。
And I don't know about you, but I would rather walk somewhere than deal with that.
不知道大家怎么看，但我宁愿另辟蹊径也不愿和斑马参活。
Finally, temperament aside, zebras aren't built for riding.
最后，抛开体温不说，斑马就不是被乘骑的料。
Even though they're from the same family, they're smaller than domestic horses,
虽然它们属于同一家族，但是它们比家马更小，
and their backs aren't as strong, so they're not able to comfortably carry as much weight.
它们的背部没有家马强壮，所以它们不能舒适地承载过多重量。
They also have thick necks, so it's not so easy to direct them with reins.
它们的脖子也很厚重，所以不容易用腰部控制它们。
And because they're so ill-tempered, they're a lot more prone to getting fed up when they're tired,
因为它们脾气坏，疲惫时更容易烦躁
and that's likely to end with your swift introduction to the hard ground. This isn't just a hypothesis, either.
你的迅速入门可能会以失败告终。这并不仅仅是假设。
During the Victorian era, when Europeans were attempting to colonize parts of Africa, taming zebras was a popular idea.
维多利亚时期的欧洲人想要拓殖非洲部分区域，驯服斑马这个想法很受欢迎。
Their horses weren't that useful, because in sub-Saharan Africa,
他们的马匹没什么用，因为在撒哈拉以南非洲，
they were susceptible to a fatal disease commonly called animal sleeping sickness, which is carried by tsetse flies.
它们容易受动物昏睡病这种致命疾病影响，这种疾病的携带者是采采蝇。
Zebras, meanwhile, almost never catch this disease because they're only rarely bitten by tsetse flies
而斑马基本从未得过这种病，因为它们很少被采采蝇叮咬
possibly because the flies are put off by all those stripes, or maybe because they have natural fly repellent in their skin.
这可能是因为采采蝇都被它们的尾巴扫掉了，或者是因为它们的皮肤中有天然的苍蝇防护剂。
Whatever the reason, Europeans took note of this and famously attempted to domesticate the horse's striped cousin.
不管是哪种原因，欧洲人注意到了这一点并试图驯化马的条纹表亲。
And while there were a few individual successes, this was, for the most part, an abysmal failure.
虽然成功了几次，但大部分都失败了。
Today, people have mostly given up on riding zebras partly because we've come to our senses, and mostly because we have jeeps now.
今天，人类基本放弃了骑斑马，部分原因是因为我们清醒过来了，主要原因是因为我们现在有吉普车啦。
Still, it goes to show that no matter what we mighty humans do, nature can sometimes still get the upper hand.
这足以证明不管人类有多么无所不能，自然优势仍会占上风。
And that's probably okay. Speaking of things getting the upper hand…emails.
这也没关系。说到占上风的事情....邮件。
Whether you're a student who needs to unsubscribe from all of those listservs or a SciShow host waiting for the next script to come in,
不管你是需要取消订阅listservs的学生还是等待下一期稿子的《科学秀》主持人
e-mail inboxes can sometimes feel like black holes.
电子邮件收件箱有时像是个黑洞。
Or time sinks. Or mountains of chaos. And that's why I'm glad Skillshare exists.
或者像个时间槽或者混乱的山脉。所以我很高兴有Skillshare。
They have a bunch of productivity-related classes, including a Skillshare Original class specifically on e-mails,
他们有很多关于效率的课程，比如关于电子邮件的Skillshare原创课程，
taught by technology writer Alexandra Samuel.
由技术作者Alexandra Samuel教授。
It's full of tips about filters, folders, routines, and it even has a worksheet to help you figure out how to apply everything.
课程中满是关于筛选、文件夹、日程的技巧，甚至还有一份工作表能帮你弄清如何使用。
Conveniently, Skillshare is offering SciShow viewers two months of unlimited access to all 20,000 Skillshare classes for free!
Skillshare为《科学秀》的观众提供了为期两月的无限制权限，免费观看所有两万种课程！
So whether you want to be a better e-mail manager or learn a new skill like videography or writing, there's plenty to check out.
所以不论你是想更好的管理电子邮件还是想学习新技能，比如摄像或写作，总有适合你的。
You can learn more at the link in the description.
下方获取链接了解更多。
