關于瞪羚你可能不知道的事實

關于瞪羚你可能不知道的事實

Gazelles are famously fleet-footed members of the antelope family, living primarily in dry, open habitats like deserts and grasslands. They tend to gather in migratory or nomadic herds, remaining vigilant about predators as they roam the landscape to eat grasses and shrubs.

瞪羚是著名的敏捷的羚羊家族成員，主要生活在干旱，開闊的棲息地，如沙漠和草原。它們傾向于聚集在遷徙的或游牧的群落中，當它們漫步在草地和灌木上時，對捕食者保持警惕。

A Thomson's gazelle surveys the savanna in Talek, Kenya.Lars Johansson / EyeEm / Getty Images

These generally tan-colored herbivores are fixtures of arid regions in Africa and Asia, yet they are also easily overlooked, often seeming like part of the scenery until they suddenly bolt at the sight of a cheetah. In honor of these elegant ungulates, some of which are struggling to coexist with our species, here are a few interesting things you may not know about gazelles.

這些通常是棕黃色的草食動物是非洲和亞洲干旱地區(qū)的常客，但它們也很容易被忽視，通常看起來像是風景的一部分，直到它們突然看到獵豹時才突然閃避。為了紀念這些優(yōu)雅的有蹄類動物，其中一些正在努力與我們的物種共存，這里有一些你可能不知道的關于瞪羚的有趣的事情。

1. Gazelles Don't Outrun Cheetahs – They Outmaneuver Them

瞪羚并沒有跑得比獵豹快——它們在機動上比獵豹強

Gazelles aren't as fast as cheetahs, but they still often find ways to escape. Nick Dale / EyeEm / Getty Images

Gazelles are undeniably fast sprinters. A Thomson's gazelle can run up to 43 mph (70 kph), but some species can reach speeds as high as 60 mph (100 kph). That's twice as fast as the top speed on record by a human runner — Usain Bolt's 27 mph (43 kph) — but it still isn't always fast enough. It might help them escape an African lion or African wild dog, but cheetahs can sprint up to 75 mph (120 kph).

瞪羚是不可否認的短跑健將。湯姆遜瞪羚的奔跑速度可達每小時43英里(每小時70公里)，但有些物種的奔跑速度可達每小時60英里(每小時100公里)。這一速度是人類跑步運動員最高紀錄——尤塞恩·博爾特的27英里/小時(43公里/小時)的兩倍，但仍然不夠快。獵豹的奔跑速度可以達到每小時75英里(每小時120公里)。

Rather than trying to outrun the world's fastest land animal, gazelles often focus on outmaneuvering and outlasting it. Forcing a cheetah to change directions can help undercut the cat's speed advantage, but it can also be risky if the chase is close. Perhaps a gazelle's greatest asset is endurance: Cheetahs can only sprint for about 0.28 miles (0.45 km), while gazelles can maintain high speeds for significantly longer. They just need to stay ahead long enough for the cheetah to run out of gas, although they might also try to end the chase even earlier with a very different tactic.

瞪羚不會試圖跑過世界上最快的陸地動物，相反，它們往往更注重機動和持續(xù)時間。強迫獵豹改變方向可能會削弱它的速度優(yōu)勢，但如果獵豹的追趕距離很近，這樣做也有風險。也許瞪羚最大的資產是耐力:獵豹只能沖刺0.28英里(0.45公里)，而瞪羚可以保持高速度更長的時間。它們只需要在前面保持足夠長的時間，直到獵豹把油用光，盡管它們也可能會用一種完全不同的策略盡早結束追捕。

2.They Can Shrink Their Hearts and Livers

它們可以收縮心臟和肝臟

A sand gazelle in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, United Arab Emirates.Charles J. Sharp / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Gazelles are well-adapted to life in dry environments, but even they may struggle when food and water dwindle in severe droughts. Some species can adjust their physiology to cope — sand gazelles, for example, have evolved the ability to shrink oxygen-demanding organs like the heart and liver during lean times. This allows them to breathe less, which might reduce the amount of water lost to respiratory evaporation.

瞪羚很好地適應了干旱環(huán)境下的生活，但在嚴重干旱中食物和水減少的情況下，即使是它們也會掙扎。有些物種可以調整自己的生理機能以適應這種情況——例如，沙瞪羚已經進化出了在經濟困難時期收縮心臟和肝臟等需要氧氣的器官的能力。這使它們呼吸更少，這可能減少因呼吸蒸發(fā)而損失的水量。

3.Some Gazelles Honk When They're Nervous

有些瞪羚緊張時會鳴叫

The critically endangered dama gazelle honks when nervous.Kazzaz Photography / Getty Images

Like other antelopes, gazelles make a wide range of noises. These include snorts, grunts, bleats, and bellows, to name a few. The dama gazelle of north-central Africa, for one, makes an "endearing honk" when it sees something worrisome, according to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. The tone varies in length and pitch, and every individual sounds different.

和其他羚羊一樣，瞪羚也會發(fā)出各種各樣的聲音。這些聲音包括鼻息、呼嚕聲、咩咩聲和風箱聲等等。例如，據(jù)史密森保護生物學研究所稱，非洲中北部的瞪羚在看到令人擔憂的事情時，會發(fā)出“可愛的叫聲”。音調的長度和音高各不相同，每個音聽起來都不一樣。

4.Young Male Gazelles May Form 'Bachelor Herds'

年輕的雄性瞪羚可能形成“單身漢群體”。

A herd of Thomson's gazelles mingle in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park. Paul Souders / Getty Images

Gazelles are primarily social animals, often congregating in massive herds. Some gazelle gatherings contain hundreds of individuals, although many others are much smaller and segregated by sex.

瞪羚主要是群居動物，經常成群生活。有些瞪羚聚集的地方有數(shù)百只，但也有許多小得多，而且按性別分開。

Among Thomson's gazelles, females form migratory groups that enter the territory of males, especially those whose territories include more resources like food, water, and shade. Younger males gather in bachelor herds, which are excluded from areas claimed by territorial males. These bachelor herds are found mainly at the periphery of an area populated by gazelles and are thus often the first to be encountered by predators.

在湯姆遜瞪羚中，雌瞪羚會形成遷徙群體，進入雄瞪羚的領地，特別是那些領地中有更多資源，如食物、水和樹蔭的瞪羚。年輕的雄性聚集在獨身的群體中，他們被排除在雄性的領地之外。這些單身的鹿群主要出現(xiàn)在瞪羚聚居區(qū)域的外圍，因此往往是最先被掠食者遇到的。