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For many potential entrée animals this [sound of lion roar] is one of the scariest sounds around. Scientists long thought the lion’s distinctive roar was due to thick layers of fat inside the vocal cords. But new research suggests that it's not the fat that makes the roar, it's the shape of the vocal cords themselves.
獅子的咆哮聲對可能被它拿來打牙祭的動物來說是最可怕的聲音。長期以來，科學家認為獅子擁有獨特的咆哮聲是因為它的聲帶里有厚厚的脂肪層。但新的研究宣稱咆哮聲并不是脂肪造成的，而是由于聲帶本身的形狀。
Most animals have triangular vocal cords. But the lion's mighty pipes are square. Tigers’ too. That square shape allows the tissue to withstand more stretching, which lets the big cats create louder roars using lower lung pressure. The finding is the journal Public Library of Science ONE. [Sarah Klemuk et al., "Adapted to Roar: Functional Morphology of Tiger and Lion Vocal Folds"]
多數動物的聲帶是三角形的。但獅子強有力的聲帶是方形的。老虎的也是如此。方形可以使聲帶組織承受更大幅度的伸展，由此大型貓科動物可以在肺部施加較小壓力的情況下發出更大的咆哮聲。以上發現刊登在公共科學圖書館期刊。（《適于咆哮：對于老虎和獅子聲帶的功能形態學研究》作者：Sarah Klemuk及其他人）
When we say loud, we mean loud. Lion roars can travel over five miles, and reach up to 114 decibels, which is as loud as a jet airplane taking off. The researchers suggest that the fat is there to cushion the cords, and to provide tissue for repair if the cords get damaged.
我們不僅在說聲音大，而且高。獅子的咆哮聲可傳出5英里遠并且能達到114分貝，可以與噴氣式飛機起飛的聲音相媲美。研究者認為聲帶中的脂肪可起緩沖作用，而且在聲帶受損的時候為恢復提供組織材料。
Understanding how that repair happens might help doctors fix damaged vocal cords in humans, too. Which would have to be called a roaring success.
了解恢復是如何發生也可以幫助醫生修復人類的聲帶損傷。這可以說是由咆哮聲帶來的巨大成就。
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