Myths About Animals 有关动物的谬误

With around 8.7 million animal species gracing our planet， its no wonder that we have some facts about animals totally wrong. Some animals and their behavior remain mysterious to scientists and its only through long-term research and observation that theyve been able to bust a number of animal myths. Heres a list of well-known but utterly false facts about some animals that grace our planet.

大约有870万种动物先后光临我们的星球，也难怪我们对动物的有些认识是完全错误的。一些动物及其行为对科学家来说依然是个谜，只有通过长期的研究和观察，他们才得以破解很多有關动物的谬误。下面列出的是关于光临我们星球的一些动物的众所周知但完全错误的说法。

Myth 1： Dogs cannot see color， only black and white.

谬误1：狗只能看见黑色和白色。

Dogs can see color， but not as wide a spectrum as humans can. In addition to black， white and shades of grey they can also distinguish between blue and yellow colors. Your pup may very well confuse yellow， orange and green. All of these colors look yellowish to a dog. The color red appears dark brownish or black to dogs. Researchers have shown that a dogs eye has both rods and cones， although they only have two cones whereas a human eye has three. Only if dogs had no cones at all would they have been restricted to seeing black and white.

狗是可以看到颜色的，但其光谱不如人类的宽。除了黑色、白色和灰色阴影，它们还可以区分蓝色和黄色。你家的小狗很可能会混淆黄色、橙色和绿色，这些颜色在狗狗看来都是黄色，而红色在狗狗眼里呈现的是深褐色或黑色。研究人员表示，狗的眼睛中既有视杆也有视锥，但它们的眼睛只有两个视锥，而人类的眼睛有3个。只有当狗根本就没有视锥的情况下，它们才会只能看到黑色和白色。

Myth 2： Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when scared or threatened.

谬误2：鸵鸟在受到惊吓或威胁时把头埋在沙子里。

Although this myth serves as a metaphor for someone whos clearly in denial about something or other， the fact is that its patently untrue. The truth is that ostriches， or any other bird or mammal， would not be able to breathe if its head were buried in the sand. The simple explanation for this myth is that ostriches bury their eggs in holes in the ground and often turn the eggs （with their beaks） and tend to the eggs several times a day. From a distance it often seems like the ostrich has its head buried in the sand.

虽然这个谬误可用于比喻那些视而不见、自欺欺人的人，但事实上，这是完全错误的。真相是，鸵鸟或任何其他鸟类或哺乳动物，如果把自己的头埋在沙子里，就不能呼吸。对这一谬误的简单解释就是鸵鸟把蛋埋在地洞里，常常一天翻动几次（用自己的喙）并看护鸟蛋。从远处看，总是看起来像是鸵鸟把自己的头埋在沙子里。

Myth 3： Owls are the wisest among birds.

谬误3：猫头鹰是鸟类中最聪明的。

Perhaps the earliest known link between owls and wisdom is their association with Athena， as the Greek goddess of wisdom is often depicted holding an owl. With their overly large eyes and the constant serious， almost thoughtful look on their faces， owls give off the impression of wisdom， of being a cut above the rest. From legends， folklore， childrens tales to Hollywood films， owls have always been the night watchmen—sometimes sinister， always smart. Unfortunately owls are actually placed on the lower-end of intelligent birds.

也许猫头鹰和智慧之间的联系最早可追溯到它们与雅典娜的关系，这位希腊智慧女神常被描绘成手持一只猫头鹰。猫头鹰有着超大的眼睛，表情严肃，一副若有所思的神情，给人留下智慧的印象，好似比其他鸟类高出一筹。从传奇、民间传说、儿童故事到好莱坞电影，猫头鹰一直是夜间守望者——有时阴险，但总是很聪明。然而不幸的是，猫头鹰实际上处于低智力鸟类之列。

Myth 4： One human year is equivalent to seven dog years.

谬误4：人类的1年相当于狗的7年。

Heres something to think about： At a young age， a small dog is older than a large dog， but with age， the small dog becomes younger than the larger breed. How can this be？ Turns out dog aging is quite complex， and the most important factor is that its related to the dogs physical size. Larger breeds age much faster than smaller breeds. Its thought that on average a two-year old dog compares to a teenager of 14 or 15 years or a young adult of 18 to 25 years， depending on the breed. Dog aging slows down after two years， debunking the seven to one ratio. The ratio between dog years and human years is therefore much more complex than seven to one， and there is no specific dog-to-human age ratio that is universally accepted.

想一想下面這些事：在狗小的时候，一只小狗比一只大狗年龄大，但随着年龄的增长，小狗变得比大犬种更年轻。这怎么可能呢？原来狗的老化是相当复杂的，最重要的因素是与狗的身体大小有关。大犬种的老化程度远远快于较小犬种。人们认为，通常两岁的狗相当于14或15岁的少年或18到25岁的年轻人，这取决于不同的犬种。狗的老化速度两年后减缓，揭穿了7∶1的假象。所以，狗年和人类年之比的复杂程度远非7∶1那么简单。目前尚未有公认的、具体的狗与人类的年龄比。

Myth 5： Wild dolphins are friendly and will save humans in trouble.

谬误5：野生海豚非常友好，总是拯救陷入困境的人类。

Dolphins dont particularly care for humans; why would they？ They are after all wild carnivores of the ocean. The myth that wild dolphins are friendly and will make haste to your assistance when youre in trouble is a result of their curious nature which is often mistaken for caring or friendliness. For example， dolphins swimming next to boats are doing so in order to ride the boats wake， allowing them to use less energy to swim; not because of their love for all things human. In fact many people have been bitten or injured while attempting to swim with wild dolphins （were not talking about the trained dolphins seen at marine parks）. There is， however， one way in which dolphins are helping humans： relative research helped scientists understand how dolphins survive shark attacks， and their tissue-regeneration and anti-bacterial properties are considered nothing short of a medical miracle.

海豚并不特别关心人类，它们凭什么要这样做呢？它们毕竟是海洋中的野生食肉动物。话说野生海豚非常友好，当你遇到麻烦时它们总是急忙赶来帮忙，实际上是因为它们好奇的天性，常常被误认为是出自关心或友好。例如，海豚在船只旁边游是为了借力船的尾流，这样它们游起来更省力，不是因为它们喜爱一切人类的东西。事实上，许多人在试图与野生海豚（我们说的不是在海洋公园看到的训练有素的海豚）同游时被咬过或因此受伤。然而，海豚确实在用一种方式帮助人类：相关的研究帮助科学家弄明白海豚如何在鲨鱼的袭击中活下来，而它们的组织再生和抗菌性能被认为是一个医学奇迹。

Myth 6： Bats are blind.

谬误6：蝙蝠是瞎的。

Often associated with darkness， witches and black magic， bats have a lot of mythology and misconceptions surrounding them. Although people often think bats are blind due to their only hunting at night， the fact is that all species of bats can see， although their vision is poorly developed. To compensate they have excellent senses of smell and hearing， and are able to use echo-location and sonar abilities to navigate and hunt at night. Their sonar abilities are so exceptional that theyre often better than military-grade sonar， which is amazing for such small animals.

人們常将蝙蝠与黑暗、巫师和巫术联系起来，它们周身有很多神话和误解。尽管人们常常因为蝙蝠只在夜间猎食而认为它们是瞎的，但事实上，所有种类的蝙蝠都可以看到东西，尽管它们的视力并不发达。然而，失之东隅收之桑榆，它们具有非常敏锐的嗅觉和听觉，能使用回声定位和声呐感应能力来导航和在夜间捕食。它们的声呐感应能力是如此特殊，常常比军用级声呐更好用，这种小动物的这一功能着实令人称奇。

distinguish /d?'st??gw??/ v. 区分;辨别

At what age are children able to distinguish between right and wrong？

depict /d?'p?kt/ v. 描绘;描画

a cut above优于;比……高一等

His latest novel is a cut above the rest.

wake /we?k/ n.（船只航行时的）尾流，航迹

attempt /?'tempt/ v. 尝试;试图

I will attempt to answer all your questions.