評論
打印
Can animals count?
動物能數數嗎？
People count easily, from the time we are little kids and learn our one-two-threes.
數數對人類而言易如反掌，孩提時代就開始數一二三了。
But what about other species?
但是其它物種如何呢？
Careful observations in the wild support the idea that some can.
通過對于自然環境中一些物種的仔細觀察發現它們真的具有這項技能。
The American coot is a duck-like North American bird.
美洲骨頂是一種生活在北美而且長得像野鴨的鳥類。
Sometimes a coot will try and sneak one of its eggs into a neighbor's nest.
有時骨頂會試著把自己的蛋偷偷放到鄰居的巢中。
Some coots recognize the deception, and roll the stranger's egg out again.
有的骨頂能識破詭計，剔除這個不明來路的蛋。
Others don't catch on, and raise the stranger's egg as their own.
而有的則丈二和尚摸不著頭腦，干脆當作自己的后代撫養長大。
Researcher Bruce Lyon at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his team observed a series of coot nests for four seasons, noting which birds could spot a stranger's eggs and which couldn't.
加利福利亞圣克魯斯大學研究員的布魯斯·里昂和他的團隊四個季節以來一直致力于觀察骨頂巢。他們記錄下了哪些鳥能認出陌生的鳥蛋，哪些不能認出。
Then they compared how many eggs each kind laid.
然后他們比較了這些鳥各生了多少蛋。
