探秘野性赤道（2020）

巨型睡莲很快就霸占了整个水面
The Queen Victoria water lily quickly dominates the stagnant surface.
它们的直径可超过六英尺 抢占竞争对手的生存空间
They can reach over six feet in diameter...
pushing aside their competitors.
它们贪婪地向外扩张 尽情享受赤道太阳的恩泽
Stretching out greedily to absorb the equatorial sun's bounty.
睡莲的边缘竖起以抵御洪水 外沿的尖刺
The fringes are raised to prevent flooding
是它们保护自我的武器
and they are armed with sharp spines, as a defense.
睡莲需要花好几天的时间才能 完全舒展开来
It takes a few days for the water lily to open fully.
水浮莲对霸占领地自有一套
Water lettuce has a different strategy for dominance.
它能以惊人的速度繁衍
It multiplies, at a spectacular rate.
洪水上涨时 小部分水浮莲冒头
As flood waters rise, a few small plant heads appear.
很快 冒头的水浮莲以成倍的速度，不断繁殖生长
Soon, those heads double and redouble again and again,
仅在数周内它们就占据了一大♥片♥区域
and within weeks, cover a vast area.
但是它没有尖刺或毒素作为防护
But it has no protective spines or toxins...
这也吸引来了亚马逊最大的食草动物
and that makes it appealing
我们一般称它为海牛
to one of Amazonia's largest herbivores, sometimes called a sea cow.
亚马逊海牛是大象的近亲
The Amazonian manatee is a relative of the elephant.
与大象一样 海牛的胃口也极大
And it shares its cousin's voracious appetite.
一只千磅左右重的海牛每天要 消耗超过30磅的食物
A thousand-pound manatee consumes over 30 pounds of plants every day.
水浮莲仅在雨季大量生长
Water lettuce is only abundant in the wet season
所以海牛采取了一个
so manatees adopt a similar strategy
许多水栖哺乳动物都会采取的办法
to many aquatic mammals.
它们会在雨季积累一层厚厚的脂肪
They lay down a huge layer of fat during the wet season,
来帮助它们熬过旱季
to see them through the dry season.
这些植物的营养含量微乎其微...
These plants contain little nutrition.
将近一半的进食量都无法被消化
Close to half of what they eat remains undigested.
海牛只能大量进食 但它们对亚马逊也有所回馈
The manatee has to eat a lot but gives this back to the Amazon.
它们的粪便就是一份丰厚的回礼
Their feces are a rich gift.
它不仅喂养了鱼和浮游生物
It feeds fish and plankton
还有利于维系河流的整个生态系统
and helps support the entire ecosystem of the river.
除了提供养料 它们的进食行为
In addition to the nutrition,
会把水面上的植物分开 形成间隙
they create gaps in the layer of floating plants...
让赤道太阳的 强光和高热得以辐射水下
allowing the intense heat and light of the equatorial sun to penetrate.
这也催生了大量的浮游生物
This triggers the growth of vast amounts of plankton--
浮游生物是水生食物链的基础
the basis of an aquatic food chain.
仅仅通过进食和消化这一举动
Simply by eating and digesting,
海牛就能帮助维系三千多个物种
the manatee helps support more than 3,000 species,
占全世界三分之一的淡水鱼种的生存
or nearly a third of all freshwater fish in the world.
其中包括有美丽的宝莲灯鱼和神仙鱼
Those fish include the beautiful, like cardinal tetra and angel fish.
也有十分怪异的 如爱贴着水面的斧头鱼
There are the bizarre, like the surface-hugging hatchet fish.
还有种类非常丰富的鲶鱼
And there are bountiful species of catfish.
它们利用触须在浑浊的水中探测食物
Their barbels, or whiskers, help them to detect food in the murky water.
这些化学感受器能帮它们 定位水中的化学物质
These chemoreceptors means they taste and smell any chemicals in the water.
树叶鱼是水中的伪装大♥师♥
A master of disguise is the leaf fish.
它的伪装有着双重优势
But there is a double advantage to its disguise.
通过伪装成漂浮的落叶 它不仅能躲过敌人的侵袭
By drifting like a fallen leaf, it not only hides from its enemies.
也混淆了猎物的视线
It may also hide from its prey.
当靠近猎物时 树叶鱼伸长嘴巴
Once close to its victim, the leaf fish creates a vacuum
形成一个真空包 将猎物吸入腹中
by extending its hinged mouth and then sucking.
这一片巨大的洪水平原 也不总是汇入大西洋
This massive floodplain hasn't always drained into the Atlantic.
它向截然相反的方向流去
It took a very different direction.
黑刺魟
The black river stingray.
这种淡水鱼的尾巴上藏有毒刺
This freshwater fish has stinging spines on its tail,
这一点与它生活在海里的祖先相同
just like its saltwater ancestors.
它的存在帮助我们了解到 亚马逊河是如何形成的
Its existence here provides a clue to how Amazonia was created.
人们认为亚马逊流域的河流 最先是汇入太平洋的
It is thought that the rivers of Amazonia once flowed into the Pacific.
但后来由于巨大的地质力量
But the enormous geological forces that thrust up
形成了安第斯山脉 阻挡了河流的去路
the Andes mountain range dammed the rivers.
由此整个流域向东形成了 巨大的湖泊和湿地网络
It formed a massive network of lakes and wetlands to the east
而黑刺魟和其他海洋物种 便也被困在这片流域之中
where stingrays and other marine species became trapped.
在这里我们能见到许多通常 在海里见到的生物
There are many animals here that we are more used to seeing in the ocean.
比如这些穿梭于树林间的海豚
Like these, dolphins, among the trees.
它们与最近的海洋距离几百英里
But they're hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean.
它们被叫做亚马逊河豚或粉色河海豚
They are boto, or pink river dolphins,
它们是世界上最大的淡水豚
the world's largest freshwater dolphin.
这些河豚在小的时候是灰色的 随着年龄的增长 它们渐渐变成粉色
When young, the dolphins are grey in color, but become pinker as they age.
人们对河豚的粉色皮肤做出了 各种解释 但目前尚无定论
It's not certain why they're pink, but there are various theories.
有人说可能是河水浑浊的红色 把河豚浸染成了粉色
It could be so the boto blend in with the muddy red color of the river.
也有人说这不是染色的缘故 而是皮肤下一层厚厚的血管使然
It's not pigment but a thick layer of blood vessels beneath the skin.
无论是哪种原因
Whatever the reason, their pink coloring doesn't hinder them
粉色的皮肤并不妨碍它们 成为顶级掠食者
from being an apex predator.
河豚是浑水中的狩猎高手
The boto is superbly adapted to hunt the murky waters.
与海豚不同
Unlike oceanic dolphins,
它们的颈椎没有连成一体
the cervical vertebrae are not fused,
因此它们的头部可以90度旋转
allowing the head to turn 90 degrees.
它们的鳍状前肢宽大 状似船桨
The flippers are large and paddle-shaped,
这让它们在水林中行动起来格外灵活
giving the animal exceptional maneuverability
in the flooded forest.
虽然雨季的到来让河豚的 活动范围骤然扩大
While the wet season has dramatically increased
但这也是有代价的
the boto's territory, it comes at a price.
在偌大的洪水平原中 猎物分布稀松
In the vast floodplain, prey is spread thinly,
它们躲藏在浑浊的水中或是树林之中
hiding out in the murky waters and among the tree trunks.
但河豚与它们生活在海里的祖先一样 都有回声定位的本领
But like their ocean-living ancestors, they have echolocation.
它们的头部有一处隆起的器官 叫做〝瓜头〞
The large lump on their heads houses an organ called a "melon."
能像镜片一样聚焦声音 帮助河豚觅食和探路
It focuses sound like a lens to help the dolphin hunt and navigate.
这让它们在淡季有足够的捕食优势
It gives them just enough of an advantage to hunt down fish in this lean season.
但这种情况不会持续很久
But this won't last for long.
湿润的气候在洪水平原中催生了 大量的新生命
The wet is about to generate a massive explosion of life in the floodplain.
在水上的世界 许多逃离洪水的动物
Above this water world there are many animals,
已经适应了在树上生活
who, to escape the flood, have adapted to a life in the trees.
这其中就包括一种长相怪异猿猴 它们只在亚马逊盆地栖息
Including a weird-looking primate, only found in the Amazon basin.
在赤道上 285立方英里的水域
On the Equator, 68 cubic miles of water
造就了这世界上最大的洪水平原
has created the world's largest floodplain.
近四万平方英里的土地都淹没在水下
Forty thousand square miles of land is now under water.
但洪水丝毫不妨碍那些 生活在树冠的动物
But the flood doesn't hinder those living high in the forest canopy,
雨季让这些树都结出了茂盛的果实
where the wet season has brought an explosion of fruit and seeds.
秃猴咬开那坚硬的纤维坚果
A uakari monkey cracks open one of the many tough
这是这座森林馈赠给它们的众多之一
and fibrous nuts the forest provides.
它是世界上为数不多的 下巴十分强健的猴子之一
It is one of the few monkeys in the world with jaws strong enough.
面部鲜亮的红色
Bald uakari stand out amongst the foliage
在雨林中十分显眼
with their striking red facial skin.
雌性秃猴会根据雄性秃猴脸部的 鲜红程度来选择伴侣
Females choose their mates based on how red the male's face is.
证据表明红色能反映秃猴的健康状况
Evidence suggests that the red coloration displays how healthy the uakari is.
地面上一只刺豚鼠在观察秃猴的行踪
On the forest floor, tracking the monkeys above is an agouti.
它在等待秃猴不小心掉些坚果下来
It's waiting on any nuts the uakari might accidentally drop.
刺豚鼠是一种啮齿动物 也是豚鼠的远亲
A type of rodent, the agouti is distantly related to guinea pigs.
它找到了它最喜欢吃的一种食物 巴西坚果
It's found one of its favorite foods, a Brazil nut.
这种坚果外壳十分坚硬 刺豚鼠是为数不多的
The pod that contains them is so hard, the agouti is one of the few creatures
能用锋利的门齿咬开这种坚果的动物
that can open one with its sharp incisors.
刺豚鼠也喜欢吃水果
Agoutis love fruit as well, and are responsible
它们还肩负着在森林中播种的重任
for spreading seeds around the forest.
另一种享受着果实盛宴的猴子
Another monkey taking advantage of the bounty of fruit
是暗黑伶猴
and seeds is a dusky titi.
它们过着一夫一妻制的生活
They live a monogamous life...
成年猴之间有着非常紧密的情感纽带
the adults forming a very close emotional bond.
但是它们的性别角色 与人类世界相反
But their gender roles are reversed.
在幼崽出生的头六个月中
He acts as the predominant carer of the infant
男性主要负责照料幼崽
for its first six months of life,
而女性只有在喂奶时才会参与其中
with the female only involved when nursing.
大洪水让食物链上的生物数量暴涨
The great flood has generated an explosion in the food chain.
雨水冲刷地面 把大量的营养物带入泛滥的河流
The rains have washed huge amounts of nutrients into the swollen rivers...
为鱼类的繁殖提供了理想的条件
ideal breeding conditions for fish.
但是这些水域也是掠食者的天堂
But it's a predator paradise in these waters,
所以有些鱼类会去到足够远的地方
so some fish go to extraordinary lengths
找一个安全之处产卵
to find a safe place to lay their eggs.
在这些树叶之下
Beneath the overhanging leaves,
脂鲤科鱼成双成对的聚集在一起交♥配♥
pairs of jumping characin gather.
雄性体型更大
The male is larger.
雌性已做好了产卵的准备
The female is ready to spawn,
透过它的皮肤我们可以看到卵子
the eggs visible through her skin.
它们在靠近水面处同步游动 时而驻足不前
They move together near the surface, sometimes pausing,
时而紧迫地来回猛冲
sometimes darting back and forth with increasing urgency.