A year in the life of one of Earth's weirdest animals - Gilad Bino

翻译人员: Bokeh Drops 校对人员: Helen Chang

Waddling along the parched Australian earth,

在干枯的澳大利亚的土地上

this female platypus is searching for fresh water.

一只正在寻找淡水的 雌性鸭嘴兽正在爬行。

Over the past year, a severe drought turned rivers and streams

过去几年极端的干燥使河流和溪水

to mere trickles.

变成了仅有的涓涓细流。

She barely survived and was unable to reproduce.

她勉强活了下来并且无法繁殖。

Could the next year bring a change in luck?

明年会因为幸运而不同吗？

It's autumn and fat raindrops finally come spilling from the sky.

现在是秋天， 饱满的雨滴终于从天而降。

Within days, the platypus finds a river and begins to hunt.

几天之内，鸭嘴兽找到了 河流开始捕食。

Her webbed feet propel her along

她的脚蹼推进着她沿河而上，

and her waterproof coat traps heat close to her body.

她的防水外套为她的身体保暖。

Underwater, she senses her surroundings with her duck-like bill,

在水底， 她用她鸭子一样的嘴 来感受她的周围环境，

which is fitted with about 40,000 electroreceptors.

嘴里配备了约 40,000个感受器。

This allows her to detect the minuscule electrical signals

这使她能够检测到微小的信号

coming from a glass shrimp’s nerves and muscles.

来自玻璃虾的神经和肌肉。

She makes it a quick meal.

那些玻璃虾被她做成一顿快餐。

And once she clambers back on land to construct a burrow,

一旦她爬回来在陆地上建造洞穴，

she waddles in a lizard-like posture,

她以蜥蜴般的姿势蹒跚而行，

her limbs moving horizontally to her spine.

她的四肢以平行于脊椎的方式移动。

The platypus has many quirks.

鸭嘴兽有很多怪癖。

As a monotreme, she's part of the most ancient lineage of mammals alive today.

作为一个单项目动物，她是 现存的最古老的哺乳动物谱系。

Consequently, she has a curious mix of mammalian, avian, and reptilian features,

因此，她有一个哺乳动物、 鸟类和爬行动物的奇怪混合特征，

which is reflected in her genome.

这反映在她的基因组中。

For instance, mammals usually have one pair of chromosomes that determine sex.

例如，哺乳动物通常 有一对决定性别的染色体。

But the platypus has five, which more closely resemble a bird’s.

但是鸭嘴兽有五对，更像一只鸟。

Let's hope she gets to put them to use.

希望她用得着。

She regains her strength and, as winter turns to spring,

随着冬天变成春天，她恢复了力量，

it’s time to mate.

是交配的时候了。

However, she can’t raise her young here.

然而，她不能在这里抚养她的幼崽。

The surrounding land has begun to be deforested,

周边土地开始被砍伐，

causing the riverbank to erode.

导致河岸被侵蚀。

Instead, she journeys upstream

替代方案，她逆流而上

and settles in a clear, deep pool sheltered by a river red gum tree.

定居在被河边的红胶树 遮蔽的清澈的深水池中。

Suddenly, a rustle flushes birds from the undergrowth and a fox appears.

突然，一阵沙沙声有鸟儿 从灌木丛中冲了过来，

然后一只狐狸出现了。

These predators have threatened platypuses

自从这些掠食者由白人移民

ever since they were introduced to Australia by white settlers in 1855.

于 1855 年带到澳大利亚 就威胁到鸭嘴兽。

The fox doesn’t see her this time, but the platypus will need to stay alert.

狐狸这次没有看见她， 但鸭嘴兽需要保持警惕。

Two males also occupy this area and, soon enough,

两只雄性也占据了这个区域，

没多久就开始争夺她的感情。

they begin competing for her affections.

Each has spurs on its hind legs containing a potent snake-like venom.

每只后腿上都有刺， 含有一种强效的蛇状毒液。

One male fights the other off and courts the female over several weeks,

一只雄性把另一只雄性斗败 并在几周内向雌性求爱，

swimming alongside her, and occasionally biting her tail.

和她一起游泳，偶尔咬她的尾巴。

Eventually, she reciprocates,

最终，她回报，

and they swim around in circles before doing the deed.

在交配之前它们围着圈子游来游去。

The male platypus has a penis with eccentric features

雄性鸭嘴兽的阴茎有具有古怪特征，

like two heads and spines that aid and fertilization.

像两个头和脊椎，会辅助受精。

Over the following week, the female constructs an extensive burrow

在接下来的一周里， 雌性建造了一个广阔的洞穴

furnished with a cozy nest.

配有一个舒适的小窝。

She plugs up the tunnels leading in,

她堵住了通往那里的隧道，

making them appear as dead ends to potential predators.

使潜在的掠食者认为是死胡同。

Then, much like a reptile or bird, she lays eggs from her cloaca,

然后就像爬行动物或鸟类一样，

a single opening that's used for both reproduction and excretion.

她从用于繁殖和排泄两者的 单个开口泄殖腔下蛋。

She incubates her eggs, and as the river red gum tree blooms,

她孵化她的蛋，然后 当河边红胶树开花的时候，

her offspring hatch.

她的后代孵化。

Like other mammals, she feeds them milk.

像其他哺乳动物一样，她给它们喂奶。

But unlike other mammals, she has no nipples.

但是和其他哺乳动物不同， 她没有乳头，

Instead, her milk oozes from mammary glands onto her belly,

而是奶从乳腺到腹部渗出，

where her babies slurp it up.

她的孩子们在她的腹部啜饮它。

This pooled milk invites bacteria,

这种混合奶会滋生细菌，

but the platypus also produces potent antibacterial proteins,

但鸭嘴兽也会产生有效的抗菌蛋白，

ensuring her newborns are safe.

确保她的新生幼崽安全。

She continues nursing them for four months—

她继续照顾他们四个月——

hunting, evading the fox, and repairing her burrow all the while.

捕食、躲避狐狸， 并一直在修复她的洞穴。

By the time her young are ready to make their debut,

当她的幼崽们准备好它们的初次狩猎，

the summer is waning.

夏天渐渐逝去。

One evening, after the female platypus returns from hunting,

一天傍晚，母鸭嘴兽捕食归来，

she finds that one nestling has already struck off on its own.

她发现一只幼崽已经离开。

A few days later, the other also leaves the borough.

几天后，另一只也离开了。

Soon, her young are living completely independently.

很快，她的幼崽可以完全独立生活。

And eventually they’ll leave this part of the river to make homes of their own.

最终它们会离开这片河域 去建设自己的家园。