SSS 2011-01-19
时间：2019-01-08 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(一)月
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute.
It's one of the oldest moves in teen dating. Head to a scary movie. As soon as the scary music kicks in, your date cuddles closer for comfort. Well, some birds may have the same idea. Splendid fairy-wrens 2 are small, sexually promiscuous 3 birds native to Australia. It turns out that males get the attention of potential mates by making their move after a predator 4 announces its presence. The research was published in the journal Behavioral Ecology.
That's the sound of butcherbirds, which prey 5 on splendid wrens. Every time male wrens hear that cry, they sing this in response. Researchers say the calls become layered atop one another, almost like a duet.
The scientists tested the response of female wrens by playing recorded bird calls. They played just the male fairy-wren 1 call. Then they played the trill of the wrens singing immediately after the butcherbirds. The females became significantly more alert—looking to the sound or singing in response—after hearing the two calls together than they did if they heard just the wren. And so for both teens and wrens, a bit of fear might help a guy get the chick.
Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Cynthia Graber.
- A wren is a kind of short-winged songbird.鹪鹩是一种短翼的鸣禽。
- My bird guide confirmed that a Carolina wren had discovered the thickets near my house.我掌握的鸟类知识使我确信，一只卡罗莱纳州鹪鹩已经发现了我家的这个灌木丛。
- Other songbirds, such as wrens, have hundreds of songs. 有的鸣鸟，例如鹪鹩，会唱几百只歌。 来自辞典例句
- They were taking a promiscuous stroll when it began to rain.他们正在那漫无目的地散步，突然下起雨来。
- Alec know that she was promiscuous and superficial.亚历克知道她是乱七八糟和浅薄的。
- The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
- Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。