生命（2009）

She needs to get warm and active while the desert is still cool...
这时候皮肤变色的绝活 就派上用场了
so she exploits the chameleon's versatile skin.
向阳侧的皮肤变成深色 以吸收太阳的热气
The side facing the sun goes dark to absorb the sun's heat,
另一侧变成浅色
while the other remains light...
将散热程度降到最低
and minimises the heat escaping from her body.
它饿了 这里的食物很少
She's hungry and food is scarce.
但是想抓这些沙漠甲虫 它的动作还是慢了一步
But she's still not quick enough to grab these desert beetles.
不过变色龙也有对策
Her solution is simple.
它终于找到一丛稀疏的植物
She finds, at last, a little vegetation...
等着想找遮荫的甲虫自投罗网
and waits for a shade-seeking beetle to come to her.
它吃饱后 继续踏上求偶的路途
On she goes, in her search for a mate.
它终于找到一只公的变色龙
At last, a wandering male.
但这可能不是 它心目中理想的另一半
But he may not treat her as she might wish.
变色龙的求偶过程 多半十分温柔
The courtship of most chameleons is gentle.
但在这片沙漠里
But in this desert,
异性可遇而不可求 所以公变色龙不能冒着被拒绝的险
a male meets a female so rarely he can't risk being rejected.
母变色龙举步离开 但现在体内孕育着新生代
She marches on, now carrying a new generation.
长达六个月的冰封期 和摄氏零下四十度的低温
A six-month freeze, when temperatures may drop to minus 40 degrees centigrade,
爬虫类应该无法 适应这样的环境
should surely make things impossible for a reptile.
但是在这片加拿大的融雪之下 有东西正在蠢蠢欲动
But here in Canada, beneath the thawing snow, something stirs.
这条公带蛇
A male red-sided garter snake.
冬天时躲在温度很少
He survived the winter by hibernating underground...
低于零度的地底冬眠
where the temperature never dropped below zero.
更多公蛇 被微弱的阳光引出地面
The weak sun persuades more males to emerge.
它们身体冰冷，行动迟缓 但是这一场分秒必争的比赛
They are cold and can't move fast, yet they are in an urgent race.
最先热身完毕的公蛇
The first males to warm up will have a head start,
在母蛇出现时可以占得先机
when the first females appear.
融化的雪水，是它们六个月来 喝到的第一口水
Melt water provides the first drink they've had for six months.
终于有一条母蛇出现了
At last, a female has emerged.
身体最暖和的公蛇 最先对母蛇的气味做出反应
The warmest males will inevitably be the first to react to her smell.
母蛇只交♥配♥一次 所以竞争非常激烈
She will only mate once, so competition between them is intense.
这一条公蛇睡过头了
This male has overslept.
热身要花好几个小时
He will need hours to warm up.
所以它暂时没有交♥配♥的希望
At the moment he stands no chance of mating.
大部分的公蛇 已经做好求爱的准备
Most of the other males are ready to chase females but, curiously,
但有些公蛇会退出比赛 去参加尚未暖身的同伴
some leave the race and go to join the cold male.
它们用温暖的身体 绕住冰冷的同伴
They slide their warm bodies over him,
几乎有点像是在求偶
just as they would if they were courting a female.
凑过来的公蛇越来越多
More and more males crowd round him.
为什么会这样
Why?
我们可以从它们的相对体温 看出个端倪
Their relative temperatures show what's going on.
它在画面上 以蓝色显示的冰冷身躯
His cool body, showing as blue,
在吸收其他公蛇的体热之后 迅速回温
is quickly warming as it absorbs heat from the other males.
这条公蛇是个骗子
He's a trickster,
它散发出母蛇般的气味
he's fooled the others by giving off a scent just like a female's
欺骗其他公蛇来跟它交♥配♥
and they are trying to mate with him.
几分钟之后 它就暖身完毕
He only needs a few minutes of this to steal enough heat from his rivals...
迅速加入求爱战局
to catch up and join the chase.
每年春天都有数以千计的带蛇
Every spring, tens of thousands of garter snakes...
在这波求爱狂潮中比个高下
fight it out in this mating frenzy.
以数目来说，这是全世界 规模最大的爬虫类聚会
It is, in numbers, the greatest gathering of reptiles in the world.
寻找伴侣，只是爬虫类繁殖时
Getting a mate is just the first challenge a reptile faces...
面对的第一项挑战
when it's ready to breed.
这只在马达加斯加的环颈鬃蜥
This collared iguana in Madagascar...
今年只产这一次卵
will only lay one batch of eggs this year,
所以它要把卵 藏在一个安全的地方
so she needs somewhere safe to hide them.
鬃蜥的卵对掠食动物来说
Her eggs are much sought after by predators,
是一顿现成的美食
they're excellent pre-packaged meals.
但它似乎已经有了对策
She appears to have the answer.
母鬃蜥把藏蛋处附近的痕迹 全都掩盖住了
She covers all traces of where she buried them.
这个策略不错
It's a good strategy.
可惜还不够好
But not good enough.
马达加斯加滑猪鼻蛇 学会了在鬃蜥筑巢地附近盯梢
Hog-nosed snakes have learned to keep watch on iguana nesting sites...
并记住埋蛋处的确切位置
and to note the precise place where the eggs lie buried.
母鬃蜥完全没有想到有这一招
She has been completely outwitted.
它只能眼睁睁的 看着宝贝蛋被吃掉
She can only stand by and watch as her precious eggs are eaten.
明年它得找个 没有滑猪鼻蛇的地点
Next year, she'll have to find a nesting site without a hog-nosed snake.
在世界另一头 亚利桑那的索诺拉沙漠
On the other side of the world, in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona,
上演着类似的剧码 但结局却很不一样
a similar drama has a very different outcome.
一只母角蜥 正在守护着埋在地下的蛋
A female horned lizard guards her buried eggs...
注意看有没有 任何危险的风吹草动
and is keeping a lookout for anything that might interfere with them.
西部萨尔瓦多蛇
A western patch-nosed snake.
以吃蛋为生
It is an egg-eater.
但母角蜥不会坐以待毙
And she won't stand for it.
萨尔瓦多蛇拿这只母角蜥没辙
The patch-nose is no match for this kind of aggression.
母角蜥的蛋暂时安全了
Her eggs are safe, for now.
这次来的掠食动物 是会吃蜥蜴的细鞭蛇
Another predator, a coach-whip snake. And this species is a lizard eater.
角蜥分得出两种蛇的不同
And she can tell the difference.
它跑不过细鞭蛇
The snake is too fast for her to outrun it,
所以想办法 让自己变得更大更高
so she makes herself look larger and taller.
细鞭蛇并不想吃 这种又刺又大的东西
The snake is wary of swallowing anything that looks as big and as spiky as this.
接下来角蜥摊出王牌
And now the lizard plays her trump card.
蛇不习惯碰到 有这种反应的猎物
The snake isn't accustomed to prey that does this.
这条细鞭蛇困惑到了极点
One very confused snake.
母角蜥继续执行守蛋任务
Now she can return to guard duty,
几个月后 第一只小蜥蜴探出地面
and several months later she's rewarded with her first baby.
对离开陆地，以海洋为家的爬虫类来说
Looking after your eggs is an even greater challenge for reptiles...
守护蛋的难度更高
that have left land to live in the sea.
太平洋的纽威岛，有一种
The Pacific island of Niue is home to the world's entire population...
仅见于此地的海蛇
of one particular type of sea krait.
这种蛇非常适合海中的生活
This snake is superbly adapted to life underwater...
唯一的例外是繁殖的时候
except when it's time to breed.
在紧紧交缠几分钟后 母蛇受精了
After a few minutes in a mating coil, the female is fertilised.
但这下出现了一个问题
But now she has a problem.
爬虫类的卵在水中无法存活
Reptile eggs can't survive underwater,
发育中的小蛇会被活活淹死 它们必须要能呼吸到空气
the developing young would drown. They have to be able to breathe air.
如果回到陆地上，母蛇和它的卵 都很可能会被吃掉
She and her eggs are both vulnerable to predators, if they return to land.
但母蛇有个了不起的妙计
But she has an extraordinary solution.
它潜到岛屿下方
She dives beneath the island,
寻找一座海底山洞的洞口
to find the entrance to a long underwater tunnel.
山洞的底端 有一个露出水面的洞穴
At the far end is a cave with an air pocket.
这里是最适合产卵的地方
This is the dry land her eggs need.
洞穴里没有掠食动物
There are no predators here.
上方的洞顶和下方的水面 隔绝了外界
The cavern is sealed by a roof above and the water below.
母蛇找到一个可以产卵的岩缝
She searches for a crevice where she can deposit her eggs.
卵在这里很安全 它可以放心回到大海
The eggs will be completely safe here and she can return to the open sea.
六个月后，一条小蛇在这里 呼吸了第一口空气
Six months later, a baby snake takes its first breath.
小蛇必须想办法进到水里
Somehow, the young snakes must find their own way to water.
再沿着海底山洞进入大海
Then down the tunnel and out to sea.
这是一只公的非洲牛蛙
A male giant bullfrog.
爬虫类和两栖类动物 很少会照顾孵化后的下一代
Reptiles and amphibians rarely care for their young after they hatch...
但是这个南非大块头是例外
but this South African bruiser is an exception.
公牛蛙借着打斗决定地位高低
The males sort out their dominance through combat.
地位最高的 可以和最多母蛙交♥配♥
The strongest will mate with the most females.
攻击性这么强的公牛蛙 实在不像好爸爸
You might not expect such an aggressive male to be a caring father.
但有一只公牛蛙会留下来
Yet one male stays behind to watch over, not just his own,
守护自己和其他同伴的后代
but everyone else's offspring.
母蛙会在池畔的浅水区产卵
The females laid their eggs in the shallows around the margins of the pool.
但在烈阳的照射之下 浅滩已迅速蒸发成一个小水塘
But the sun is intense and the shallows have shrunk to a single pool.
蝌蚪似乎面临了受困的危机
There's a real danger that the tadpoles will be stranded.
留下来守护的公蛙 发现情况不妙
The guardian male recognises the problem.
若它不伸出援手 蝌蚪会在一个小时内死亡
They will be dead within an hour unless he can do something to help.
要救它们只有一个办法
There is only one thing he can do to save them.
挖一条通往主池塘的渠道
Dig a channel to the main pool.
蝌蚪安全了
They're safe.
惊人的创意 让两栖类和爬虫类
Remarkable innovations have made amphibians and reptiles...
成为现代的成功范例
a modern success story.
更令人佩服的是 其中有一种爬虫类
What is more, among their ranks is one reptile...
仍然是陆地上 数一数二的掠食动物
that is still an undisputed top land predator.
科摩多龙
The Komodo dragon.
它们最主要的猎物是鹿 科摩多龙可轻易的伏击，制♥服♥它们