你所不知的喵星人

2016-05-14木沐杜筠

英语学习 2016年7期

木沐　杜筠

While its no secret some people love cats， felines2 themselves are complicated and confusing creatures. One day， theyre rubbing up against you， demanding attention， and the next， they deny you the simplest， friendly purr！3

On those days， we question if cats are living with us by choice or simply because were keeping them there. After all， they were once wild animals！ To learn more about how exactly cats went from living in the wild， to becoming our pets， to their current celebrity status， were trying to find answers to cat owners most pressing questions about feline evolution.4 Thanks to science， we now know a lot more about the lineage—and the wild side！—of our furry （and sometimes grumpy） friends.5

1. “What makes cats different than other domesticated6 animals？”

While most species were domesticated because of their value to humans （horses for their labor， cows for their milk， and so on and so forth7）， you cant really put cats to work. So when cats needed shelter and food， they essentially took domestication upon themselves.8

“Unlike barnyard animals and livestock， cats took into account that it was a good idea for them to get along with people，” says Stephen OBrien， chief scientific officer for Genome Bioinformatics at St. Petersburg （Russia） State Universitys Theodosius Dobzhansky Center， who has conducted multiple cat-evolution studies.9

What most likely happened： just as humankind was establishing the first settlements roughly 10，000 years ago in a part of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent， wild cats fed on their trash and preyed upon mice that infested livestock feed.10 The cats that were genetically tamer most likely formed a bond with certain humans， which eventually led to cats living inside their homes.11

2. “So， did cats essentially domesticate themselves by being nice？”

You could say that. “There was an advantage associated with being a nice guy if you were a cat，” OBrien says. “By becoming friendly with humans， there was another source of nutrition， protection and companionship that couldnt be found in the wild.”12

3. “Can all cats take advantage of this personality trait？”13

Not exactly. This “friendly” personality trait begins in a cats genes14. Domestic cats can become pets， wild cats cannot. But its not a question of nice or nasty， says John Bradshaw， foundation director of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol and author of Cat Sense.15

“Mutations somehow give domestic kittens the ability to become sociable with people—but if they dont encounter humans until theyre over 10 weeks old，16 they can remain as ‘wild as any wildcat，” Bradshaw says.

4. “Why do cats race through the house sometimes， especially at night？ Is this because of their ‘wild past？”

“A sudden burst of energy， excitement or simply pent up energy can cause a cat to spontaneously run around like crazy，” says Ragen T.S. McGowan， Ph.D.， a behaviorist at Nestlé Purina.17 “Cats are naturally crepuscular， which means they are most active at dusk and dawn，”18 McGowan says. “This stems from the fact that for their wild counterparts，19 these are the best times of the day to hunt.”

While wild cats take a series of short “cat naps” throughout the day to stay vigilant toward both predators and potential prey， house cats live in an environment where its safe to sleep for long stretches of time during the day—which amounts to having extra energy to burn at night.20

5. “Why are all cats roughly the same size， unlike dogs？”

While dogs， as a species， exhibit an extreme size divergence from a tiny Pekingese to a massive Great Dane，21 cats typically range from 8 to 12 pounds. Why is that， exactly？ Well， nobody knows for sure.

It could be because size distribution is more prevalent in the felidae family （all cats） than the felis species， which spans from jungle cats to domestic cats，22 OBrien says. However， it could also be because dogs have been domesticated for much longer and bred more intensely than cats.23 Another factor， OBrien points out， is that they have more diversity to begin with in terms of genes responsible for metric growth， which could account for the larger size variety.24

6. “Why dont cats roar like their larger ancestors？”25

The cat family has 37 species， 38 if you count the house cat. But the only cats that roar are the great cats like lions， tigers， leopards， jaguars and snow leopards，26 OBrien explains. Theyre able to do this because of their ossified hyoid bone， an adaptation specific to the panthera group，27 which allows them to roar.

But cats dont need to let out a sad “meow28.” Pumas and cheetahs dont roar，29 either （they scream and purr， respectively）.

7. “Why do cats only rub up on you seeking attention on their own terms， but ignore you otherwise？”

“Cats are descended from a solitary species， and have yet to evolve a need to socialize 24/7，”30 Bradshaw says. “Most of the time， most of them just want to be alone.”

8. “Are cats tails just for show， or do they actually serve a purpose？”

Monkeys may use their tails to hang from trees， but cats primarily31 use their tails for balance， OBrien says. As cats run， their tails essentially serve as a rudder32， giving them balance to keep on their intended path as they turn a corner. The best example would be a cheetah reaching 70 mph speeds.

Theres another， surprising purpose： Theyre a part of the reproductive33 process！ “When the female gets mounted34， she has to agree to lift her tail，” OBrien says.

9. “Where does that myth35 about cats having nine lives come from？”

Cats reputation as the ultimate survivors probably originates in their ability to land safely， even when falling from great heights.

“[Cats] can do this because they can twist around in mid-air so as to land on all four feet at once， with their back arched so it can act as a shock-absorber，”36 Bradshaw explains. “If they manage to right themselves far enough above the ground， they can slow their fall by temporarily extending their legs sideways and using their bodies as a parachute—rather like a less extreme version of a flying squirrel.”37

既能高贵冷艳，又能撒娇卖萌的喵星人在人类世界可谓收获了众多粉丝，然而不容忽视的一点是，这些毛茸茸、可爱的小生物也曾是森林里的“小霸主”。从野生动物进化为人类世界的明星，究竟是它们自己的选择还是人类的干涉呢？

1. burning question：亟待解决的问题。

2. feline：猫，猫科动物。

3. rub：摩擦，蹭；purr：猫发出的呼噜声，此处指人学猫发出的声音。

4. 为了更多地了解猫咪究竟是怎样从野生动物变成人类的宠物，拥有现在的明星地位的，我们试图就猫咪主人最关心的猫咪进化问题做一个解答。celebrity：名人；status：地位；pressing：紧迫的；evolution：进化。

5. lineage：血统，家系；furry：毛茸茸的；grumpy：性情乖戾的。

6. domesticated：家养的，下文中出现的domestication和domesticate分别是名词和动词形式，指“驯服，教化”。

7. so forth：等等。

8. shelter：住所，避难处；essentially：本质上。

9. barnyard：仓院；livestock：牲畜；take into account：考虑，重视；genome：基因组；bioinformatics：生物信息学；multiple：多重的，多样的。

10. 事实很可能是这样的：大约一万年前，当人类在中东的新月沃土首次定居下来时，野猫便以人类的垃圾以及捕食祸害牲畜饲料的老鼠为生。settlement：定居；roughly：大致；the Fertile Crescent：新月沃土（指西亚、北非地区两河流域及附近一连串肥沃的土地）；trash：垃圾，废物；prey：捕食，掠夺；infest：（昆虫、老鼠等）成群侵扰，横行。

11. genetically：从基因方面；tame：温顺的；bond：纽带，联系。

12. nutrition：营养；companion-ship：陪伴。

13. take advantage of：利用；trait：特性，特点。

14. gene：基因。

15. nasty：令人不愉快的；anthrozoology：人与动物关系学。

16. mutation：突变，变异；kitten：小猫；sociable：友善的；encounter：邂逅，遇到。

17. pent up：被压抑的，郁积的；spontaneously：自发地，一时冲动地；behaviorist：行为学家。

18. crepuscular：黄昏或黎明时分活动的； dusk：黄昏；dawn：黎明。

19. stem from：起源于；counterpart：对应物。

20. 许多野猫会在白天偶尔打打盹儿来时刻保持警惕，以对付自己的捕食者和潜在的猎物，家猫则可以在白天安稳地睡上很长时间，这使得它们在夜晚有足够的精力。nap：打盹儿；vigilant：警惕的；predator：捕食者；stretch of：持续的一段时间；amount to：相当于。

21. exhibit：展示；divergence：差异，分歧；Pekingese：哈巴狗；massive：巨大的；Great Dane：大丹犬。

22. distribution：分配，分布；prevalent：流行的，普遍的；felidae：猫科动物；cat：此处亦指猫科动物（包括狮子、老虎等）；felis：猫属的；span：跨越；jungle：丛林。