51 Clever Animals-High

Clever Animals FOCUS Question How do animals change their behavior in response to the environment?

聪明的动物焦点问题动物如何改变他们的行为以回应环境?

Types of Traits Picture a black bear's sharp claws or its dark fur. These features of a bear's body are physical traits. Animals receive, or inherit, physical traits from their parents. Animals also have behavioral (be-HAYV-yur-ul) traits. These traits are how an animal acts. Behaviors can be inherited or learned. Bears sleeping all winter is an inherited trait. But cubs learn from their mother to scurry up trees when danger is near. Animals can change their behavior if something in their environment changes. A bear may eat seeds and berries in the summer. But it may eat insects in autumn when they are plentiful. Think About It Octopuses can unscrew the lid on a jar to get the food inside. Do you think they inherit or learn this behavior?

想象一下黑熊锋利的爪子或黑色的皮毛。 熊身上的这些特征是身体特征。 动物从父母那里继承或继承身体特征。 动物也有行为(be- hayv - ur-ul)特征。 这些特征是动物的行为方式。 行为可以遗传，也可以学习。 熊在冬天睡觉是一种遗传特征。 但幼崽们从母亲那里学会了在危险临近时迅速爬上树。 如果环境发生变化，动物可以改变它们的行为。 熊在夏天可以吃种子和浆果。 但它可能在秋天昆虫丰富的时候吃昆虫。 章鱼可以拧开罐子的盖子把食物放进去。 你认为他们的这种行为是遗传的还是学来的?

Stalking Behavior Animals can change how they hunt, depending on the environment. Leopards need to get close to their prey before they attack. They use different ways to do this. Savannas often have thick grass. Leopards will crawl quietly through the grass to stalk and catch prey. But in some places, there is no grass to hide in. In that case, a leopard may sneak down into a creek bed. It will follow the creek until it can pop up near its prey. Other times, a leopard will hide in a tree and wait until an animal walks below it. Then it pounces.

跟踪行为动物可以根据环境改变捕猎方式。 豹在发动攻击前需要接近猎物。 他们用不同的方法来做到这一点。 稀树草原上通常有茂密的草。 豹子会悄悄地在草丛中爬行，跟踪并捕捉猎物。 但在一些地方，没有草可以藏身。 在这种情况下，豹子可能会潜入河床。 它会沿着小溪，直到它能突然出现在猎物附近。 有时，豹子会躲在树上，等着有动物从它下面走过。 然后它猛扑过来。

The Art of Attraction Many animals behave in specific ways to attract a mate. Male bowerbirds build impressive structures called bowers. First, they set up the basic framework. Then they decorate it with colorful items that they find in a forest or field. Different males use different colors. Cuttlefish can show off two color patterns on their skin at the same time. To find a mate, the male shows females the male color pattern on one side of its body. On the other side, it displays a female color pattern. This confuses other males trying to court the same female. It gives the first male time to attract a mate.

吸引的艺术许多动物都有特定的行为方式来吸引配偶。 雄性园丁鸟建造令人印象深刻的结构，称为凉亭。 首先，他们建立了基本框架。 然后他们用在森林或田野里找到的彩色物品来装饰它。 不同的男性使用不同的颜色。 墨鱼可以同时在皮肤上展示两种颜色的图案。 为了寻找配偶，雄性会向雌性展示身体一侧的雄性颜色图案。 在另一边，它显示了女性的颜色图案。 这让其他试图追求同一只雌性的雄性感到困惑。 这给了第一个雄性吸引配偶的时间。

Bird Brains Birds can change their behavior to get a tasty treat. Some seabirds follow fishing boats. Shearwaters have learned that they can earn an easy meal by stealing some of what the people catch. When the boats don't go out, the birds hunt on their own. Seagulls have learned to drop crabs from great heights. The crab shell smashes open on the rocks below, and the seagull flies down to eat its meal. Crows have learned to do something similar with nuts. They drop the nuts on roadways. Then they wait for passing cars to run over them and break open the shells.

鸟类可以改变它们的行为来获得美味的食物。 一些海鸟跟着渔船。 海鸥知道它们可以通过偷取人们捕捉到的东西来轻松地吃上一顿。 当船不出海时，鸟就自己觅食。 海鸥学会了从高空扔下螃蟹。 蟹壳在下面的岩石上撞开了，海鸥飞下来吃它的食物。 乌鸦也学会了用坚果做类似的事情。 他们把坚果掉在路上。 然后他们等着过往的汽车从他们身上碾过，然后打开贝壳。

Wizards of the Waves Killer whales, or orcas, have several unique behaviors that help them catch their prey, which often includes other predators. No ocean creature may seem more dangerous than a great white shark. But a few kinds of orcas have figured out that by flipping great white sharks upside down in the water, they can turn these powerful fish into helpless prey. Great whites can only breathe while they swim. Once on their backs, the sharks stop swimming. They can suffocate in a few minutes. At that point, the orcas have landed quite a catch! Orcas in Argentina swim out of the surf and up onto dry, sandy beaches to catch sea lion pups. Orcas in Antarctica use a different trick. Weddell seals rest on large blocks of ice. By swimming as a group, the orcas create waves large enough to break the ice into smaller pieces. These waves wash the seal right off the ice, where it lands near the waiting jaws of another orca (see page 7).

虎鲸或逆戟鲸有几种独特的行为来帮助它们捕捉猎物，其中通常包括其他捕食者。 没有什么海洋生物比大白鲨更危险了。 但有几种虎鲸发现，把大白鲨倒挂在水里，它们就能把这些强大的鱼变成无助的猎物。 大白鲨只有在游泳时才能呼吸。 鲨鱼一旦背上，就停止游动。 几分钟内就会窒息。 在这一点上，虎鲸已经着陆了!阿根廷的虎鲸游出海浪，游到干燥的沙滩上捕捉海狮幼崽。 南极的虎鲸则有不同的技巧。 威德尔海豹在大块冰块上休息。 逆戟鲸成群游动时，制造出足够大的波浪，将冰击碎成小块。 这些海浪把海豹从冰面上冲了下来，它落在了另一只虎鲸等在那里的下巴附近(见第7页)。