Wolverine-the Weasel behind the Myth 狼獾—神话背后的鼬鼠 For most people the wolverine is best known as an inspiration for the distinctive design of the University of Michigan logo and as the name of an X-Men character. Real wolverines can't fly or leap over tall buildings,but in their own way they are as powerful as comic book superheroes. Also known as the devil bear or woods devil,the wolverine is not related to the wolf, as its name seems to suggest.Rather,the wolverine is the largest member of the weasel family. Males are roughly the size of small brown bears and weigh between twenty and forty-five pounds.Wolverines have low,squat bodies and large paws adorned with long,sharp claws useful for climbing trees and digging in snow and dirt. Relative to other mammals its size,the wolverine does possess incredible strength.A powerful neck and jaws allow wolverines to steal food from hunting traps and even from larger predators such as wolves and bears. On occasion,a wolverine will take down an animal up to five times its size,such as a deer or moose.And like any superhero worth his or her salt,the wolverine has exceptional endurance.It has been known to travel distances of up to ten miles without stopping or slowing down to rest. Despite their powers,wolverines are not good hunters.They eat mostly carrion,the eggs of ground-nesting birds,and berries.Wolverines used to range as far south as New Mexico,but human hunting and land development have confined them to Alaska and arctic and sub-arctic regions of Canada.As for Michigan,the only wolverines left are the ones on the athletic field
Wolverine–the Weasel behind the Myth 狼獾——神话背后的鼬鼠 For most people the wolverine is best known as an inspiration for the distinctive design of the University of Michigan logo and as the name of an X-Men character. Real wolverines can’t fly or leap over tall buildings, but in their own way they are as powerful as comic book superheroes. Also known as the devil bear or woods devil, the wolverine is not related to the wolf, as its name seems to suggest. Rather, the wolverine is the largest member of the weasel family. Males are roughly the size of small brown bears and weigh between twenty and forty-five pounds. Wolverines have low, squat bodies and large paws adorned with long, sharp claws useful for climbing trees and digging in snow and dirt. Relative to other mammals its size, the wolverine does possess incredible strength. A powerful neck and jaws allow wolverines to steal food from hunting traps and even from larger predators such as wolves and bears. On occasion, a wolverine will take down an animal up to five times its size, such as a deer or moose. And like any superhero worth his or her salt, the wolverine has exceptional endurance. It has been known to travel distances of up to ten miles without stopping or slowing down to rest. Despite their powers, wolverines are not good hunters. They eat mostly carrion, the eggs of ground-nesting birds, and berries. Wolverines used to range as far south as New Mexico, but human hunting and land development have confined them to Alaska and arctic and sub-arctic regions of Canada. As for Michigan, the only wolverines left are the ones on the athletic field
Do Animals Love Pacing Around? 动物也爱散步？ When you've been to the zoo have you noticed how some of the animals pace around a lot? Scientists think the problem might be that the animals miss the freedom to roam.That make sense.After all,a polar bear's natural range is about the size of South Carolina. Right.And the typical zoo habitat is about one millionth of that. Researchers in Oxford studied the pacing behavior of thirty-five captive species using data from over one thousand scientific articles published since the 1960s.When they analyzed this data-which represented more than five hundred zoos worldwide-they determined that the deciding factor for pacing was range size. That also explains why stay-close-to-home species like snow leopards tend to thrive in zoos.So what happens now? Well,one option is for zoos to build larger,more varied habitats,and switch enclosures periodically to simulate roaming.But a better option might be to phase animals like polar bears out of zoos,and focus instead on those animals that do well in captivity. The problem is that this is a double-edged sword:these animals'natural habitats are increasingly threatened as well
Do Animals Love Pacing Around? 动物也爱散步？ When you’ve been to the zoo have you noticed how some of the animals pace around a lot? Scientists think the problem might be that the animals miss the freedom to roam. That make sense. After all, a polar bear’s natural range is about the size of South Carolina. Right. And the typical zoo habitat is about one millionth of that. Researchers in Oxford studied the pacing behavior of thirty-five captive species using data from over one thousand scientific articles published since the 1960s. When they analyzed this data–which represented more than five hundred zoos worldwide–they determined that the deciding factor for pacing was range size. That also explains why stay-close-to-home species like snow leopards tend to thrive in zoos. So what happens now? Well, one option is for zoos to build larger, more varied habitats, and switch enclosures periodically to simulate roaming. But a better option might be to phase animals like polar bears out of zoos, and focus instead on those animals that do well in captivity. The problem is that this is a double-edged sword: these animals’ natural habitats are increasingly threatened as well
Can Animals Count? 动物会数数？ Can animals count?People count easily,from the time we are little kids and learn our one-two-threes.But what about other species?Careful observations in the wild support the idea that some can. The American coot is a duck-like North American bird.Sometimes a coot will try and sneak one of its eggs into a neighbor's nest.Some coots recognize the deception,and roll the stranger's egg out again.Others don't catch on,and raise the stranger's egg as their own. 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.Then they compared how many eggs each kind laid. Their finding?The coots that couldn't tell when a stranger's egg had been stuck into their nest laid that many fewer of their own-sneak one in,the coot lays one fewer. Sneak two in,the coot lays two fewer.Coots that successfully spotted intruders knocked them out again and then laid the same number they normally would. If the number of eggs laid were independent of how many the coot sees in its nest, coots that allow a stranger's egg should wind up with one egg extra.But they don't. Lyon argues that,along with egg recognition,the coots must therefore be doing some version of"I see I have nine eggs here-time to stop laying now."And that means coots count. Other researchers aren't convinced.But though the debate goes on,the case for animal counting just got stronger...by the weight of one coot
Can Animals Count? 动物会数数？ Can animals count? People count easily, from the time we are little kids and learn our one-two-threes. But what about other species? Careful observations in the wild support the idea that some can. The American coot is a duck-like North American bird. Sometimes a coot will try and sneak one of its eggs into a neighbor’s nest. Some coots recognize the deception, and roll the stranger’s egg out again. Others don’t catch on, and raise the stranger’s egg as their own. 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. Then they compared how many eggs each kind laid. Their finding? The coots that couldn’t tell when a stranger’s egg had been stuck into their nest laid that many fewer of their own–sneak one in, the coot lays one fewer. Sneak two in, the coot lays two fewer. Coots that successfully spotted intruders knocked them out again and then laid the same number they normally would. If the number of eggs laid were independent of how many the coot sees in its nest, coots that allow a stranger’s egg should wind up with one egg extra. But they don’t. Lyon argues that, along with egg recognition, the coots must therefore be doing some version of “I see I have nine eggs here–time to stop laying now.” And that means coots count. Other researchers aren’t convinced. But though the debate goes on, the case for animal counting just got stronger…by the weight of one coot
Do Animals Cry? All animals with mobile eyes are equipped with a tearing system that keeps their eyes lubricated,protecting their eyes from the elements and so on. People tell tales of animals such as elephants and dogs weeping when punished. However,even if such an animal does shed tears,there is no scientific evidence that the animal is expressing emotion in doing so. But what about when a baby chimp or ape whimpers and screams as it's being separated from its mother,couldn't we say with some certainty that the animal is crying? While this display does elicit care-giving from the mother,prompting her to feed or protect the baby,it is less clear that what the baby is feeling is similar to what a human feels when he or she cries. In fact,it's not clear that crying and other emotional displays mean exactly the same thing to all humans.For instance,there is a wide range of emotions that prompt people to cry,and some bouts of weeping,such as crying at a stranger's wedding, seem to be culturally programmed responses. In addition,autistic people are said to be less emotionally expressive,but research has shown that it's more that their expressions and their reactions to the emotional expressions of others are unusual.Different.But does that mean that their sadness is different somehow? So even if apes can be said with some certainty to be feeling emotions,then there is the problem of figuring out to what extent what they feel resembles what humans feel
Do Animals Cry? All animals with mobile eyes are equipped with a tearing system that keeps their eyes lubricated, protecting their eyes from the elements and so on. People tell tales of animals such as elephants and dogs weeping when punished. However, even if such an animal does shed tears, there is no scientific evidence that the animal is expressing emotion in doing so. But what about when a baby chimp or ape whimpers and screams as it’s being separated from its mother, couldn’t we say with some certainty that the animal is crying? While this display does elicit care-giving from the mother, prompting her to feed or protect the baby, it is less clear that what the baby is feeling is similar to what a human feels when he or she cries. In fact, it’s not clear that crying and other emotional displays mean exactly the same thing to all humans. For instance, there is a wide range of emotions that prompt people to cry, and some bouts of weeping, such as crying at a stranger’s wedding, seem to be culturally programmed responses. In addition, autistic people are said to be less emotionally expressive, but research has shown that it’s more that their expressions and their reactions to the emotional expressions of others are unusual. Different. But does that mean that their sadness is different somehow? So even if apes can be said with some certainty to be feeling emotions, then there is the problem of figuring out to what extent what they feel resembles what humans feel