生命之色（2021）

这声音在所有岛上都一样
A frog will attack any other frog that enters its territory.
青蛙会攻击任何进入自己领地的青蛙
They are famous for their wrestling skill,
它们的摔跤技术很有名
but it's a very civilised sport.
但这是一种非常文明的运动
I always like to describe them as two gummy bears going at each other,
我喜欢把它们形容成两个黏在一起的橡胶熊软糖
because they don't have claws or teeth and can't hurt each other.
因为它们没有爪子或者牙齿不会伤害到彼此
They're just trying to pin each other down.
它们只是想压制住彼此
First, she tested an orange frog
首先 她在一个橙色青蛙为主的岛上
on an island where orange frogs predominate.
测试了一只橙色青蛙
The males of this species vigorously defend their territories.
这种雄蛙会拼命守护自己的领土
So if one of them hears the calls of another male,
如果其中有一只雄蛙听到了另一只雄蛙的声音
he will think his territory is being invaded,
它会认为自己的领地被入侵了
and he won't allow that.
它可不允许这样的事情发生
He becomes physically aggressive,
它变得很有攻击性
trying to wrestle with the model and pin it down.
试着和模型摔跤 想把它压制下去
Next,Yusan tried the orange territory holder
接下来 雨珊试了一只蓝色模型
with a blue model.
挑战了一下橙色的青蛙领主
This time, the male reacted to the sound,
这一次 雄蛙对声音有所反应
but didn't seem to recognise the blue male as a threat.
但是似乎并没有把蓝色雄蛙当成一个威胁
In the red populations,
在红色的族群里
表现得更具攻击性
青蛙会对红色模型
And in the blue population,
在蓝色的族群里
the frog will be more aggressive toward the blue model.
它们会对蓝色模型更具攻击性
But if it's of a different colour,
大部分情况下
then a lot of times, the frogs wouldn't recognise it as a competitor.
如果模型与它们颜色不同，青蛙们并不会将对方视为竞争者
So if the frogs react only to the colours
那么 如果青蛙只会针对
with which they are familiar,
和自己颜色相近的同类产生反应
what is the function of different colours?
那不同颜色有什么作用呢？
The answer seems to be
看起来的答案是
that the frogs are not signalling to each other,
青蛙们的颜色并不是针对同类
but to predators.
而是向捕猎者发出信♥号♥♥
they are poisonous.
蛙如其名 箭毒蛙有毒性
So the bright colour is actually a warning signal to the predators,
所以 鲜艳的颜色是在警告捕食者告诉它们：
telling them,"I am poisonous. Don't eat me."
“我有毒 别吃我”
But the frogs are not all equally poisonous.
但是青蛙的毒性也各不相同
Their poison comes from toxic alkaloids that occur in their food,
它们的毒素来自于食物中的生物碱
which is largely ants and mites.
主要是蚂蚁和螨虫
The particular diet on some islands
某些岛屿上的特殊饮食
makes some frogs more poisonous than others,
会让一些青蛙的毒性变得更大
and this affects their colour.
从而影响到它们的颜色
So researchers have found that the colour is related to their toxicity,
研究者已经发现颜色和毒性有关系
and the ones that are duller,that are a more camouflaged colour,
颜色越暗淡，越会用颜色伪装的那些
they are actually less toxic.
事实上毒性也更小
Red and orange ones,on the other hand,
另一方面 红色和橙色
are extremely poisonous
毒性尤甚
and make that quite clear before they are attacked.
在其他动物攻击前就把这一点体现得很清楚了
Most birds and lizards have excellent colour vision
大部分鸟类和蜥蜴的视力都很好
and are well able to see these red warning signals.
它们能够看到这些红色警告信♥号♥♥
So whilst the tiger's orange colour conceals it from colour-blind prey,
所以 老虎利用橙色在色盲猎物前藏住自己
the poison dart frog's similar colour
而箭毒蛙的类似颜色
advertises that it's poisonous.
是在宣告自己有毒
There is yet another equally important way
自然界中 颜色还有一种
in which colour is usedin the natural world.
同样很重要的用途
To attract a mate.
吸引配偶
The peacock does that on a grand scale.
大多数孔雀都是如此
And so does this tiny spider,
这只小蜘蛛也是如此
in a remarkably similar way.
它们的方法十分相似
This one belongs to a group called the jumping spiders.
这只小蜘蛛属于跳蛛科
Dr. Lisa Taylor,from the University of Florida,
佛罗里达大学的丽莎·泰勒博士
goes to extreme lengths to study how they view the world.
竭尽全力在研究它们如何看待世界
There's more than 6,000 species of jumping spiders,
世界上有6000多种跳蛛
and we're just now learning a lot about their colour vision.
我们目前在努力了解它们的色觉
Lisa also studies a group called the Habronattus spiders,
丽莎还在研究一种北美蝇虎跳蛛
which can see a range of colours,
它可以看到许多颜色
from ultraviolet all the way into the red.
从紫外线能一路认出红色
The males have bright red faces,and Lisa is investigating why.
雄蛛的面部是红色的，丽莎正在研究它的成因
As a starting point for understanding what thosexa0colours are communicating,
立足点是去理解它们如何通过颜色沟通
one way to do that is to block out the colours completely
有一种方法是完全挡住这种颜色
and then ask the females what she thinks.
然后看看雌蛛怎么想
To block out the male's colours,we gently apply liquid eyeliner.
为了遮住雄蛛的颜色，我们轻柔地涂上了液体眼线液
We've tested a lot of products to make sure they're safe for the spiders
我们测试了很多产品来保证它们是安全的
and that the spiders behave normally after the eyeliner is applied.
蜘蛛在用完产品后还可以正常行动
By giving some males a makeover in this way,
通过这种方式给雄蛛化完妆
Lisa discovered that a female regards a red face
丽莎发现对雌蛛来说
as a very important quality in a male.
红脸是雄蛛非常重要的特质
When the males are courting females,
在高质量的光照条件下
under really good quality lighting conditions,
当雄蛛在向雌蛛献殷勤
the females were very attentive to the colour.
雌蛛会注意到它们的颜色
The red-faced male on the left
左侧的红脸雄蛛
is clearly holding the attention of the female.
明显更能吸引雌蛛的注意力
But a male with a pale face is largely ignored.
脸色暗淡的雄蛛大多被忽略了
There have been a lot of studies trying to understand
有很多研究在试图理解
what the brightness of a colour might tell a female about a potential mate.
颜色的亮度会怎么影响在雌蛛心中的雄蛛形象
Usually, it's the brightest males that are advertising their good quality.
通常情况下 颜色最鲜艳的雄性会将自己的长处广而告之
That's what we've actually found in the jumping spiders too.
我们发现跳蛛也是如此
So males with brighter colours seem to be better quality
颜色更鲜艳的雄蛛
than males with darker, duller colours.
会比颜色更暗沉单调的雄蛛看起来更优质
But these male spiders have an extra need to impress.
但这些雄蛛还有额外的需求
So females are really voracious predators.
雌蛛是非常贪婪的捕食者
They go after almost anything that moves,
它们会跟随所有能移♥动♥的东西
and they take down prey that's a lot bigger than themselves.
并拿下个头大得多的猎物
So when a male is courting a female,he has to take that into account.
当雄蛛向雌蛛献殷勤的时候，它也得考虑到这一点
And if she doesn't accept him as a mate,
如果雌蛛不把雄蛛当成交♥配♥对象
she will eat him.
就会吃掉它
The redness of his face makes all the difference.
红脸让一切变得不同
Red is a strong, bright colour that stands out against most backgrounds,
红色在大部分背景中都是很明亮的颜色
so it's used as a warning of danger by many animals,
也会被很多动物视为危险的警告
including ourselves.
包括人类
And in Habronattus,
对北美蝇虎跳蛛来说
it could be the difference between life and death.
这可能是生死一线间
When a male encounters a female,
当一只雄蛛遇到一只雌蛛
he has a very limited amount of time in order to impress that female.
它只有非常短的时间来拿下这些雌蛛
So the female could quickly attack him.
否则雌蛛很快就会袭击它
So we think that maybe the males incorporate this red into their display
所以我们认为也许雄蛛是把红色融入到外表中
to give them an extra second,
为自己赢取额外的时间
so they have a little bit more time
这样它们可以在雌蛛扑过去同类相食之前
before the female pounces on him and cannibalises him.
争取多一点的时间
By adopting the red colour used by their toxic prey,
通过使用其有毒的猎物所用的红色
a male spider gains an extra second or two,
雄蛛可以多出一两秒时间
during which he can make his case and win over a mate.
这期间它可以亮明身份 搞定配偶
So colour can affect the way animals hide and display,
所以 颜色会影响动物藏身和展示的方式
but some animals can see light
但有些动物会用一种和我们完全不同的方式
in a completely different way to ourselves.
来感知光线
They can detect and respond to polarised light,
它们可以察觉并对偏振光作出反应
light that vibrates in only one plane,
这种光只在某一方向的振动
as it does when it's reflected from a shiny surface.
就像从闪亮的表面反射那样
Polarised light plays a crucial part in the lives of some animals,
偏振光在一些动物的生活中至关重要
including these small fiddler crabs in Darwin, Australia.
比如澳大利亚达尔文的这些小招潮蟹
Our team worked with Prof. Viktor Gruev,
我们的团队和来自伊利诺伊大学的
from the University of Illinois,
维克多·格鲁夫教授合作
to develop a unique and pioneering camera system
研发了一套独特且开创性的相机系统
to view this hidden world.
来观察这个隐藏的世界
Put it in front.
把这个放在前面
The camera detects areas of polarisation,
这台相机能察觉到偏振光的区域
such as the light that passes through polarising sunglasses.
比如能够穿透偏振光太阳镜的光线
100% here.
百分百在这里了
It then combines vertical and horizontal polarisation
然后将垂直和水平偏振结合起来
to show the contrast between polarised and unpolarised light.
显示偏光和非偏光之间的对比
With this new camera,
有了这台新相机
the team hoped to find out how fiddler crabs use polarised light
团队希望能够找出招潮蟹如何利用偏振光
to signal to each other.