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本帖最后由 sunsong7 于 2011-1-23 17:11 编辑
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近日科学家发现，土拨鼠(prairie dog)除了有自己的语言以外，字汇至少高达100个单字，还可以警告同伴“敌人来了！”据台湾“今日新闻网”报道，北亚历桑那大学(Northern Arizona University)的研究人员指出，在土拨鼠的语言里，甚至还可以形容不同人类的长相。. U d# ? @) w/ S
9 s% X7 }0 b n, a- V土拨鼠的各式叫声如吠叫、鸣叫，其实背后存在着复杂的语言结构，因此当有敌人入侵它们的地盘时，它们可以发出警告声，呼吁同伴赶紧逃命。
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, J1 U6 _& E/ q研究人员提到，它们语言的丰富程度，可以让它们形容敌人的体型、大小、颜色以及入侵的速度。不管是土狼(coyote)、狗、还是各种鸟类，它们都有自己一套形容的方式，要同伴多加准备。
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研究人员将自己藏身至土拨鼠的窝当中，然后把土拨鼠发出的声音录下来，然后再对声音中的音调以及频率加以研究，随后发现它们在不同敌人入侵时，会发出不同的声音。
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( v6 [* ^ d, `除此之外，研究人员还请来4位自愿者，充当“要入侵的敌人”，穿上不同颜色的衣服，发现土拨鼠对此反应也不同；同时，土拨鼠也能分辨不同身高的敌人。: r: h6 k8 o! q- p9 h/ s1 I
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研究人员打趣地表示，虽然人类听不懂土拨鼠的各式叫声，但是它们可能就是再说“有个高个穿着蓝T恤来了”或是“有个矮子穿着黄T恤来了”。
% u' z$ v5 K' l) _Prairie dogs have a language all of their own and 'can describe what humans look like'
0 M& `+ F; U3 _: I, Q8 `! bBy Graham Smith Last updated at 5:49 PM on 21st January 2011
1 j& u- T' y2 _ b$ uIt's a language that would twist the tongue of even the most sophisticated linguist.
0 _+ D( W( t: `: J: zPrairie dogs talk to each other and can describe what different human beings look like, according to scientists.2 w+ h$ ^9 L* c% S) E. R
The species - only found in North America - call out to warn their friends when a predator approaches their habitat.6 [$ {7 v6 G2 l' g3 e! [
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Rodent species: Prairie dogs - only found in North America - call out to warn their friends when a predator approaches their habitat, scientists believe2 v0 f/ X# B, v- ~1 Y3 ]! b
Not only that, but they have calls for 'human', one for 'hawk' and another for 'coyote', radio station NPR reports.
+ X& K, e4 H. Z' M( ~1 UProfessor Con Slobodchikoff, of Northern Arizona University, has been studying prairie dogs for 30 years.# V* D" W6 Z8 U& R+ ~3 l
He is particularly interested in deciphering their language because to do so would 'open the door for understanding how other species communicate'.
# m& m! k9 c# z+ UThe prairie dog's barks, yips and chirping sounds are really a sophisticated form of communication that contains a vocabulary of at least 100 words, Professor Slobodchikoff claims.
- K- B( u$ }, i'The little yips prairie dogs make contain a lot of information,' he said./ |/ A! s) g) [* j
Professor Con Slobodchikoff, of Northern Arizona University, has been studying prairie dogs for 30 years
! }! a- b5 z' O$ ~+ T'They can describe details of predators such as their size, shape, colour and how fast they are going.2 U6 l3 R3 \) T! A
'They also can discriminate whether an approaching animal is a coyote or a dog, and they can decipher different types of birds.'
4 G; \+ M0 ^7 |% PProfessor Slobodchikoff and his students hid themselves in prairie dog villages and recorded the noises the rodents made whenever a human, hawk, dog or coyote passed through.9 K- u0 | T$ g; a9 @0 A" n
What they found was that the prairie dog issues different calls depending on the intruder. The researchers discovered this by analysing the recorded calls for frequency and tone. D" c9 T. e: j6 R! \ X4 h$ ]
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They concluded that it doesn't have one call for 'danger', rather it has a collection of warning noises - or a language., S r: W2 z8 m+ @% k/ _
To further develop this line of investigation, Professor Slobodchikoff gathered four volunteers and had them walk through a prairie dog village four times. On each occasion they wore the same clothing, except for different colour shirts.
& s# P$ X5 }- \! Q0 F( vThe prairie dogs responded by issuing different calls, depending on the colour of the volunteers' shirts.5 \ F. d& { K; b- t# ?6 K5 Z0 E. k
Professor Slobodchikoff then discovered they also issued different calls for varying heights, and even for abstract shapes including cardboard circles, squares and triangles.
( ]+ a9 J0 g8 `3 m: V( qHe told NPR: 'Essentially they were saying, "Here comes the tall human in the blue," versus, "Here comes the short human in the yellow."', r+ t4 M# T+ N2 B! @
9 s# k2 `( @: E0 o2 A% m% ^. chttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/scien ... mans-look-like.html
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发表于 2011-1-23 17:07
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发表于 2011-5-13 11:34
