生命之色（2021）

The natural world is full of colours.
自然世界充满了色彩
Colours that attract attention.
引人注目的颜色
Colours that blend beautifully with their background.
与背景完美融合的颜色
And colours that create extraordinary displays.
以及营造出非凡意象的颜色
There are few animals more brilliantly coloured
很少有动物的颜色
than these scarlet macaws.
能比五彩金刚鹦鹉更艳丽
Animals can use colour for all kinds of different reasons,
动物们会因为各种原因而形成不同颜色
and some have colours that we ourselves can't even see.
有一些动物的颜色甚至是人类肉眼不可见的
But with new cameras,
但是借助着新的相机
some developed especially for this series,
其中一些是专为这套纪录片而设计
we can reveal a world that has long been hidden from our eyes.
我们得以揭开一个长久以来藏在我们视线以外的世界
A world of colours that only some animals can see.
一个只有某些动物能够看见的颜色世界
Secret communication channels for the most private of messages.
用来传递最私密信息的秘密沟通渠道
And colours so bold and brilliant,they dazzle our senses.
以及那些格外大胆和绚烂的颜色，它们将震撼我们的感官
Whether to win a mate…
不论是要赢得配偶
or beat a rival,
或者击败对手
to warn off an enemy
警告敌人
or to hide from one.
或是躲避对方
We will reveal extraordinary stories about Life in Colour.
我们将在《自然本色》中揭开这些奇妙的故事
The rocky hills of Southern India.
这里是印度南部的多岩石山丘
The stage is setxa0for a performance
这个舞台上将会上演
of one of the most spectacular dances in the natural world.
自然世界里最精彩的舞蹈表演之一
Peacocks are gathering.
孔雀们正在聚集
This, surely,
毫无疑问
is one of the most glamorous of all sights in nature.
这是自然界中最迷人的景色之一
A hundred and fifty shimmering eyespots,
150个闪耀的眼状斑
carried on tail feathers that are six feet long.
出现在183厘米长的尾部羽毛上
So how did such glories evolve?
那么 这番美景是如何进化而来呢？
It seems it's all down to the female.
似乎一切都是为了雌孔雀
The brighter a male's colours
雄孔雀的颜色越鲜艳
and the greater the number of his featheryxa0eyespots,
尾羽上的眼状斑越多
the more attractive she will find him.
就会越吸引雌孔雀
But colours and plumes like these come at a cost.
但形成这些颜色和羽毛也需要付出代价
The immense tail makes flying difficult.
巨大的尾巴让飞行变得困难
The males are literally weighed down by their feathers.
羽毛把雄孔雀都压沉了下去
Yet the colours they carry are clearly very important to them.
但它们的颜色显然很重要
So why and how has colour taken on such value?
那么 这些色彩的价值如何而来以及怎样体现呢？
To understand that,
为了理解这一点
we have to think back to when it all began.
我们得回想到一切的源头
Seven hundred million years ago,
七亿年前
our planet was far less colourful.
我们的星球远没有如此多彩
But the first animals, it seems,
但是似乎早期的动物眼睛
had eyes that were unable to distinguish colours anyway.
并不能分辨出各种颜色
Gradually, however, this changed.
然而 时过境迁
I am in Costa Rica…
我现在身在哥斯达黎加
a good place to see how valuable colour can be.
这里是观察色彩价值的好地方
This toucan likes fruit,
这只巨嘴鸟喜欢水果
and its ability to choose ripe fruit from unripexa0depends on colour,
它靠着颜色来辨别水果是否成熟
because the ripe ones are black.
因为成熟的果实是黑色的
And this capacity of choosing between different colours
这种辨别不同颜色的能力
非常重要的一个阶段
是色彩视觉进化过程中
Birds,
鸟类
close relatives of dinosaurs,
是恐龙的近亲
appeared before mammals.
出现在哺乳类动物之前
The first mammals, as far as we can tell,
据我们目前所知 最初的哺乳类动物
were mostly nocturnal.
大部分都在夜间活动
Colours are not easily distinguishable
夜间的颜色并不容易辨别
so why evolve the ability to detect them?
那为什么辨别色彩的能力还会进化？
So it seems that the first mammals themselves
似乎最早的哺乳类动物本身
were not very colourful.
也并没有很多色彩
And this is still largely true today.
如今大部分情况也依然如此
Most are shades of black and white.
大部分的哺乳类动物都是黑白相间
Or brown.
或者棕色
But there are exceptions.
但是也有一些例外
And one of the most dramatic
这其中有一些非常特别的生物
lives in the forests of Gabon in West Africa.
生活在西非加蓬的森林
These monkeys are mandrills,
这些猴子叫做山魈
a kind of baboon.
是一种狒狒
They live in large troops.
它们群居而生
Most are females and youngsters,
大部分是雌性和未成年山魈
both of which are brown.
两种都是棕色
But the males are different.
但是雄性山魈则不同
They, when they're young,
幼年时期的它们
have very plain faces with naked muzzles.
面部都非常普通 鼻口平坦
As they grow, their faces begin to change.
随着不断成长 它们的面部开始改变
Testosterone begins to flow through their veins.
睾丸素开始在它们的血管中流淌
When they're about six years old,
当它们长到大约六岁时
they leave the troop and start to fend for themselves.
便会离开猴群 开始自力更生
As they become sexually mature,
当它们性成熟时
colour appears in their faces.
面部就会出现颜色
And what colour!
多么奇妙的颜色！
Mandrill males
雄性山魈是体型最大的猴类动物
weighing over 30 kilos.
体重超过30公斤
Enormously, frighteningly powerful.
力气惊人地巨大
And their colours say so.
它们的颜色也说明了这一点
It is not only his face which is coloured.
它不仅面部有颜色
So is his rump.
臀部也是如此
Both are fearless declarations
二者都在大胆地宣告着
of his health and strength.
自己的健康与力量
And this male is more than happy to prove just how strong he is
这只公猴很乐意证明自己的强壮
should any male dare to challenge him.
让其他公猴不敢挑战自己
Not surprisingly,
毫不意外
mandrill eyes are particularly sensitive to colour.
山魈的眼睛对颜色特别敏感
And it's the brightness of their colours which signals their status.
颜色的亮度代表了它们的状态
There are four males in this troop,
这个猴群中有四只公猴
and they're constantly flexing their muscles
它们不断秀着肌肉
and displaying theirxa0colours to establish who is the strongest.
展示着自己的色彩来确定谁是最强王者
And not all disputes are settled peacefully.
并非所有争端都能和平解决
They emphasise their ferocity by gestures,
它们通过各种姿势来突出自己的凶猛
such as grinding their teeth.
比如磨牙
If that doesn't work,
如果这招不管用
the highest-ranking male will fight…
地位最高的公猴便会打架…
and the others know it.
以示群猴
It's better to let colour do the talking.
最好还是让颜色来说了算
Mandrills see the world much as we do
山魈和我们看到的世界一样
and have three kinds of colour-sensitive cells.
拥有三种感知颜色的细胞
But another group of animals has colour vision that's far superior
而另一种动物的色觉
to that of any mammal.
远胜于任何哺乳类动物
Birds.
鸟类
Their ability varies from group to group,
它们的能力因种类不同而有所差异
but you can judge how good they are
但是看到它们用颜色来给彼此发信♥号♥♥
from the colours they use to signal to one another.
你就能看到它们有多厉害
Hummingbirds have excellent colour vision,
蜂鸟的色觉非常厉害
because that enables them to spot brightly coloured flowers,
它们能够找到色泽鲜艳的花朵
which contains the nectar on which they feed.
里面有它们食用的花蜜
So this artificial feeder is a big success.
因此 这台人工喂食器非常成功
Brightly coloured down here
下面是明亮颜色
and containing sugar solution,artificial nectar, up there.
上面则包含了糖浆、人造花蜜
But hummingbirds also use their ability to see colour in a different way,
蜂鸟还会用辨别色彩的能力做其他的事情
to attract a mate.
吸引配偶
Most species live in South America,
大多数物种都生活在南美地区
where there are flowers of some sort all year round.
这里全年都有各种各样的花朵
A few, however, have spread northwards
但是 也有一部分会向北部延伸至
into the deserts of the American Southwest.
美国西南部的沙漠地区
In this vastness,
在这片广阔的地方
it's hard to get noticed,
很难引起注意
especially if you're a small hummingbird looking for a mate.
特别是那些求偶的小蜂鸟
But this male Costa's hummingbird uses his colours to send a secret message.
但是 这只雄性的科氏蜂鸟则用颜色传达了一则秘密消息
Out in the open,
在开阔的空地上
flashy colours can attract unwanted attention,
鲜艳的颜色会引起不必要的注意