Five of the Loudest Animalsin the World 世界上声音最大的五种动物

Kristen Hall-Geisler 杨舟选译

When the sun rises early in the morning and youre snuggled1 under thecovers， the loudest animal in the world is probably your cat or your dog begging2 forbreakfast.

当大清早太阳升起而你蜷缩在被窝里时，世界上声音最大的动物可能是你家讨要早餐的猫或狗。

However， scientists have actually measured the sounds made by animals in thewild. They too are very， very loud， and maybe even louder than your pets in themorning.

然而，科学家实际上测量了野生动物发出的声音。它们也非常响亮，可能会比清晨时你的宠物更大声。

1. Tiger Pistol Shrimp

Pow pow！ This little shrimp doesntmake sounds with its mouth. It uses itshuge claw3 to shoot jets4 of water withsuch force that it creates an air bubble.When this bubble implodes5， it generatesa shockwave thats been measured atmore than 200 decibels6. This shockwavecan kill other shrimp as far as 2 metersaway. Human eardrums7 will rupture8 at160 decibels. Thats some shrimp！

1. 老虎枪虾

砰砰！这种小虾的嘴不会发出声音。它用巨大的鳌夹射出水柱，其力量之大足以制造出一个气泡。当这个气泡破裂时，它会产生一个超过 200 分贝的冲击波。这种冲击波可以杀死 2 米开外的其他虾。人的耳膜会在 160 分贝时破裂。而那是某种虾！

2. Blue Whale

This loudest animal in the world is alsothe largest animal in the world. The bluewhales call can reach 188 decibels. Weshare the planet with blue whales and tigerpistol shrimps， so how do we even haveeardrums if these animals are so loud？ Wereprotected by the fact that they liveunderwater and we do not. If we did live inthe sea， wed be able to hear the song of theblue whale as far as 1，609 kilometers away.

2. 蓝鲸

这种世界上声音最大的动物也是世界上体型最大的动物。蓝鲸的叫声可以达到 188 分贝。我们与蓝鲸和手枪虾共享这个星球，那么如果这些动物的声音如此之大，我们怎么会有耳膜呢？它们生活在水下而我们没有，我们因此受到了保护。如果我们真的生活在海里，我们就能在 1，609 公里之外听到蓝鲸的歌声。

3. Greater Bulldog Bat

The greater bulldog bat， usesecholocation9 to find food， like all bats. Butthese bats feed on fish. That means theyneed to emit10 a sound that can penetrate11both air， where they fly， and water， wheretheir food swims. Their echolocation call canreach 140 decibels. But we humans getlucky again in sharing the world with thesebats， since these loud sounds are outside therange of human hearing.

3. 兔唇蝠

兔唇蝠与所有蝙蝠一样使用回声定位来寻找食物。但这些蝙蝠是以鱼为食。这意味着它们需要发出一种声音，既能穿透它们飞行的空气，也能穿透食物游动的水。它们的回声定位声波可以达到 140 分贝。与这些蝙蝠共享这个世界的我们人类再次走运了，因为这些响亮的声音超出了人类的听觉范围。

4. Kakapo

Our next loudest animal is also theloudest bird， the kakapo. This New Zealandnatives call can be as loud as 132 decibels.The flightless kakapo holds a couple of otherrecords， too. Its the heaviest parrot speciesin the world. And its the longest -livedbird—theyre known to reach their 90thbirthday.

4. 鸮鹦鹉

我们下一个声音最大的动物鸮鹦鹉也是声音最大的鸟类。这种原产新西兰的动物叫声可以高达 132 分贝。不会飞的鸮鹦鹉也保持着其他的记录。它是世界上最重的鹦鹉种类，也是寿命最长的鸟———已知可达 90 岁。

5. Cicadas

Two species of this bug are the loudestknown insects. They can produce sounds upto 120 decibels. It can sound like cicadasare screaming12 their lungs out at absolutelyeverything， but actually they are vibrating13their abdomen14. Their calls are importantfor them to attract other cicadas.

5. 蟬

这种昆虫中的两种是已知的声音最大的昆虫。它们都能发出高达 120 分贝的声音。听起来好像蝉对着任何事物都在撕心裂肺地尖叫，但实际上它们是在振动它们的腹部。它们的叫声对吸引别的蝉很重要。

（英语原文选自：animals.howstuffworks.com）

1. snuggle [ ] . 偎依;舒服地蜷伏 2. beg [ ] . 乞求;乞讨

3. claw [ ] 螯，钳 4. jet [ ] . 喷射流

5. implode [ ] . 内爆;崩溃 6. decibel [ ] 分贝

7. eardrum [ ] 鼓膜，耳膜 8. rupture [ ] . 破裂

9. echolocation [ ] . 回声定位 10. emit [ ] 发出（声音）

11. penetrate [ ] 穿透 12. scream [ ] 尖叫;大声叫