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高海拔蜂鸟进化出体温技巧

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This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata.
If a hummingbird has ever visited your garden, you've no doubt seen it flit from flower to flower, hovering midair as it sips on nectar. That activity requires plenty of energy. So hummingbirds need a lot of nectar to feed their hungry metabolisms.
"In fact, some of them probably drink two or three times their body mass in nectar each day."
Andrew McKechnie, an ornithologist at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
McKechnie and his colleagues have studied hummingbirds at extreme elevations in the Peruvian Andes. To survive there, the tiny birds have developed a few tricks. For one, their blood cells are unusually efficient at transporting oxygen. Also, it's more difficult to hover in the high-altitude thin air. And so...
"The hummingbirds at those high elevations are much more prone to perching while they feed. So that does seem to be one way they try and reduce energy expenditure."

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Now McKechnie and his colleagues have found another energy-saving adaptation: the high-mountain hummingbirds can lower their body temperature by extreme amounts at night—going into a state called torpor.
"I mean, for all intents and appearances, they're essentially dead. They're that unresponsive."
The scientists caught six species of Andean hummingbirds and monitored their temperatures through the night and day. And they found that all six species could enter some type of torpor—they lower their body temperatures from about 100 degrees Fahrenheit by day to as low as 38 degrees Fahrenheit at night. And being "essentially dead" conserves energy.
The details are in the journal Biology Letters.
Although some of the birds' low body temperatures are on par with those of hibernating mammals, it's important to note that this isn't full-fledged hibernation—which is a longer-term response. True hibernation has only ever been documented in one bird, so far at least: the common poorwill in the U.S. Southwest.
"One of my career goals is to find a second hibernating bird."
And the Andes, he says, is going to be the first place he looks.
Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

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重点单词   查看全部解释    
hibernation [.haibə'neiʃən]

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n. 冬眠

 
essentially [i'senʃəli]

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adv. 本质上,本来

 
survive [sə'vaiv]

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vt. 比 ... 活得长,幸免于难,艰难度过

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affordable [ə'fɔ:dəbl]

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adj. 支付得起的,不太昂贵的

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unresponsive

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adj. 无反应的;反应迟钝的

 
temperature ['tempritʃə(r)]

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n. 温度,气温,体温,发烧

 
species ['spi:ʃiz]

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n. (单复同)物种,种类

 
efficient [i'fiʃənt]

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adj. 效率高的,胜任的

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prone [prəun]

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adj. 俯卧的,易于 ... 的,有 ... 倾向的

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hover ['hʌvə]

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vi. 盘旋,翱翔,徘徊
n. 盘旋,翱翔,徘

 

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