探秘野性赤道（2020）

It's also useful for escaping predators and reaching out-of-the-way fruit.
不只是哺乳动物进化出了这项超能力
It's not just mammals that have evolved this superpower.
蜥蜴也在此之列
Lizards have got in on the act too.
像飞蜥科蜥蜴已进化出一种胸腔
Like the Draco lizard which has developed a rib-cage
其向外展开形成一个滑翔翼
which folds outwards to shape their chest into a gliding wing.
这一不可思议的动物种类 是一条脆弱的食物链中的一员
This incredible variety of animals is part of a delicate food chain.
处在食物网顶端的 是一种体积很小很难被注意到的水果
Sitting at the top of this web is a small, almost unnoticeable fruit...
无花果
the fig.
不像一些树木和果实用毒素和尖刺
While some trees and fruit fight off attackers
击退进攻者
with toxins and spiky defenses...
无花果树则欢迎果实爱好者
fig trees welcome fruit lovers.
作为交换 吃饱的顾客
In exchange, a queue of well-fed patrons
用它们的胃将无花果树的种子带走
carries away the seeds of the fig in their stomachs.
敏捷的长臂猿每天都要穿行几英里
The speedy gibbons routinely travels several miles per day,
比其它任何猴子或猿的距离都要远
further than any monkey or ape here.
对树木来说 它们是主要的售货员
For the tree, they are their chief salesmen.
有非常多的水果种类 可供长臂猿家族去选择
There's a massive choice of fruit for the family of gibbons to choose from.
这是一段非常美妙的关系
It's a great relationship that benefits them
使得它们和丛林里的其他动物都获益
and many others in the jungle.
许多水果的味道和香气进化得很聪明
The tastes and aromas of many fruits have cleverly evolved
使得灵长类动物的味蕾无法抗拒
to be irresistible to the palates of primates.
并且吃进去的东西最终必会排出来
And what goes in must eventually come out.
长臂猿早早入睡 好在其他灵长类动物之前醒来
Gibbons go to bed early so they can rise before the other primates
去采摘选中的果实
to get the choice fruit.
灵长类动物也是邋遢的进食者
Primates are also messy eaters and wherever they go
所到之处 吃过和没吃过的果实，像一阵细雨落到林子地面
a gentle rain of eaten and uneaten fruit falls to the forest floor.
所有这些丢弃的水果 引来了另一位觅食的不速之客
All this discarded fruit attracts another unexpected forager...
一个两吨♥重的森林巨人
a two-ton forest giant.
这些茂密的丛林 是许多独特和罕见生物的家园
These dense jungles are home to many unique and unexpected creatures.
但最惊奇的也许是...陆地上最大的哺乳动物便生活在这里
But perhaps the most surprising is the biggest mammal on land...
大象
the elephant.
婆罗洲矮象是世界上体积最小的大象
The Borneo pygmy elephant is the smallest in the world.
它们在非洲干旱的赤道地区的亲戚
Their cousins in the dry equatorial region of Africa
比它们高出1.5米而且更重
are five feet taller and considerably heavier.
一种说法是 原因在于岛上的环境
One theory suggests that island living is the reason.
资源稀少导致物种体型较小
Fewer resources lead to smaller species.
但婆罗洲是世界第三大岛屿
But Borneo is the third largest island on Earth.
可能是缺少像非洲大猫那样
Could it be that the lack of a powerful predator
强大的捕食者
like the big cats of Africa
所以这里的大象才体型更小吗?
means the elephants are smaller?
我们也许永远也不能确切地知晓
We may never know for sure.
谈及这些大象 〝小〞只是一个相对的词汇
"Small" is a relative term when it comes to these elephants.
它们还是有几吨♥重
They still weigh a few tons and mow through around
每天要吃掉将近136公斤的植物
300 pounds of vegetation every day.
它们在开辟空地上起到重要作用
They play an important role in creating clearings
使得阳光能穿透到森林地面促进再生
that allow light to penetrate to the forest floor,triggering re-growth.
阳光正是种子所需要的东西
The sunlight is exactly what the seeds need
它们借此开始向上生长之旅
to begin their journey upwards.
但要在一只饥饿的猪吃饱以后才行
But not before a hungry pig has its fill.
对婆罗洲的髯猪来说 掉落的果实是一顿美餐
Fallen fruit is fine dining for Borneo's bearded pigs.
众所周知 它们的一只眼睛
会盯着上方的树枝
They are known to keep one eye on the branches above
跟着长臂猿和猕猴 等着天赐之物
and follow gibbons and macaques,waiting for manna from heaven.
回到苏门答腊岛，另一罕见小型哺乳动物
Back on Sumatra, another rare miniature mammal
在森林里潜行
stalks the forest.
犀牛
A rhinoceros.
非洲白犀牛比起苏门答腊犀牛 要重三分之二以上
The African white rhino is over two-thirds heavier than the Sumatran species.
孤立的环境也是导致体型差异的原因
Isolation can also play a part in this size difference.
苏门答腊岛曾与马来西亚大♥陆♥相连
Sumatra was once connected to the Malaysian mainland by land bridges
海平面降低时 才会显露连接彼此的陆桥
when sea levels were lower.
当没有在吃掉落的水果时
When not feeding on discarded fruits,
犀牛喜欢在浅水池里打滚来凉快一下
it likes to wallow in shallow pools to cool down.
尽管体型很小 但它是已灭绝披毛犀
Despite its size, it's the last representative
仅存的近亲
of the extinct woolly rhino family.
对整个雨林地区的动物来说 果实非常重要
Fruit is so important to the animals of the whole region's rainforests
所以科学家们发现了 动物种类的数量和体型之间
that scientists have found a direct relationship
有着直接的关系
between number and size of animal species,
并且不论丛林里产出了多少水果
and how much fruit a jungle produces.
不管水果掉落在哪里 如果条件合适
Wherever fruit falls, a future tree may grow
一棵新树也许会长出来
if the conditions are right.
热带雨林的土地相对贫瘠
But tropical rainforest soil is relatively poor in nutrients.
要想成功生长 果树和藤蔓需要来自上方的帮助
To succeed, fruiting trees and vines need help from above.
许多粪便和尿液与大多数果实一起
A payload of dung and urine concentrates under the trees
在树下聚集
with the most fruit.
由于岛屿横跨赤道
As the island straddles the equator...
它经受着强烈的热带气候
it experiences an intense tropical climate
使得分解速度更快
driving decomposition faster.
屎壳郎开启了这一过程
Dung beetles kick-start the process.
大部分营养物质将通过薄薄的表层土 被回收利用
Most nutrients will be recycled through the thin topsoil
并再次回到树上
and back to the trees.
在一片雨林中
In a rainforest, the first six to eight inches of soil
土壤以下15到20厘米营养最丰富
is the richest source of nutrients.
这就是为什么这里的树木 都将树根向宽处而非纵深方向延展
That's why the trees here spread their roots wide but not deep.
它们强大的板状根遍布在森林地面
Their mighty buttress roots sprawl across the forest floor,
将浅须根送至落叶层下方
sending out shallow rootlets just below the leaf litter.
婆罗洲浅土壤中的营养物质之争
The fight to secure nutrients in the shallow Borneo soil
见证了植物以奇怪的方式 进化并适应这里
has seen plants evolve and adapt in strange ways.
91厘米宽的大王花
At three feet across,the rafflesia flower
是世界上最大的单瓣花
is the largest single flower in the world.
由于其非常刺鼻的气味有时也叫尸花
It's sometimes called the corpse flower due to its deeply pungent smell.
其有斑点的花瓣很像腐肉
Its blotchy petals resemble rotting flesh,
并且随着这股气味 也散发着微弱的热量
and along with this odor radiating a subtle heat,
这对为其授粉的苍蝇来说 无法抗拒
it's irresistible to the flies which pollinate it.
这是一种寄生植物
It's a parasitic plant.
因为它既没有根也没有叶
As it has no roots or leaves,it grows hidden inside its host,
它隐藏在宿主体内生长、萌芽
only becoming visible when buds emerge and develop
直到长出丰满的花瓣时 才看得到
into giant fleshy flower petals.
它们会选择藤蔓作为宿主 因为这些植物能够长到树冠上
It chooses a vine as its host,
because these plants are able to grow high up into the canopy
吸收尽可能多的阳光
to absorb as much sunlight as possible.
这里有287种龙脑香树
There are 287 species of dipterocarp here.
只有在东部80.5公里远
Only 50 miles further east on the drier island of Sulawesi,
干旱的苏拉威西岛上种类少于十种
there are less than ten.
人们认为龙脑香树 在非常湿润的气候里才会茁壮成长
It is thought that dipterocarps thrive in very wet climates
需要旱季只有四个月
where the dry season is just four months.
到处都有小型的森林食草动物
There are tiny forest grazers everywhere
很快就将植物扫荡完毕
making short work of the foliage.
但一些植物已经进化出了 有毒的树叶来保护自己
But some plants have evolved toxic leaves to protect themselves.
一些对植物毒素免疫的毛毛虫很聪明
Cleverly, some caterpillars, which are immune to plant toxins,
将这些化学物质储存在身体里 也变得有毒起来
store the chemicals in their bodies to become toxic too.
往食物链再上一层
Further up the food chain,
鸟类必须小心挑选所吃的昆虫
birds have to be careful which insects they eat.
奇怪的花纹和鲜亮及大胆的色彩
Bizarre patterns and bright, bold colors
都在警示捕食者远离
are all warnings to predators to stay away.
对自然界的回收者来说 丛林地面上的落叶是一份幸运
All the leaf litter on the jungle floor is a bonanza for nature's recyclers.
这里的蚂蚁在数量上 碾压其他所有种群
Here, ants overwhelm everything and everyone with numbers.
这些红蚁甚至厚脸皮到
These red ants are even cheeky enough
从蜥蜴的嘴里偷取食物碎屑
to steal the crumbs from a lizard's mouth.
直到蜥蜴无法忍♥受
Until it can't stand it anymore.
蚂蚁世界里也有巨人
The ant world has its giants too.
相比自己的邻居来说 双齿多刺蚁就是个巨人
A polyrhachis is a colossus compared to its neighbors.
这些巨人喜欢自己觅食
These goliaths like to forage on their own,
但它们会通过留下化学物质 来与其他同类交流
but will communicate with others,through the exchange of chemicals.
它们利用藤蔓作为捷径
They use vines as their highways,
快速从地面到达森林中部高度的地方
a quick route from the floor to the mid-forest elevation.
森林地面微弱的阳光迫使一些植物
The reduced light on the forest floor
has forced some plants to germinate much higher up the canopy,
利用树枝生长到比树冠还高的地方去
piggy-backing on branches.
其中包括各种各样的兰科植物
Including many varieties of orchid.
仔细看的话 兰花并不是这个样子的
Look closely and the orchids are not all they seem here.
这是个冒牌货，一种叫做兰花螳螂的昆虫
This is an imposter, an insect called an orchid mantis.
它不仅看起来像兰花
It not only looks like one,