狐獴：超级动物明星的秘密（2013）

但小毛豆和小维尼不会总是得到这么多帮助
But Squirt and Weeny won’t always get this much help.
在接下来的两个月里，它们必须学会自己觅食
Over the next two months, they will have to learn to feed themselves.
随着蒂姆项目规模的扩大，
As Tim’s project grew in size,
加入该团队的研究人员
the researchers who joined the team
正在迅速进入新的领域
were rapidly moving into new areas.
很明显，一种复杂的合作形式是核心
It was clear that a complex form of cooperation is at the heart
猫鼬家族的成员
of the meerkat family.
现在，一些科学家想要观察事物
Now, some of the scientists wanted to look at things
喜欢创新、学习和传统
like innovation, learning and tradition.
在过去的十年里，
Over the last ten years,
亚历克斯·桑顿博士设计了一系列
Dr Alex Thornton has designed a series
来找出信息是如何通过猫鼬传播的
of tests to try to find out how information spreads through meerkat
社会和它们如何创新
societies and how they innovate.
我设计了一系列创新任务来观察哪些人
I designed a series of innovation tasks to look at which individuals
在小组中可能会创新解决新问题的方法
in groups would be likely to innovate solutions to new problems.
在这个实验中，一只蝎子被拿来喂猫鼬
In this experiment, a scorpion is served to a meerkat
装在改良的饭盒里
in a modified lunch box.
为了吃到零食，
To get to the snack,
它的本能是尝试走第一条路线
its instinct is to try and take route one
穿过透明的塑料墙
through the clear plastic walls.
但有些猫鼬可以学会把这种本能放在一边
But some meerkats can learn to put aside that instinct
采取不同的方法
and take a different approach.
还有一条路可以进去
There’s another way in.
转动盖子
Turn the lid.
事实上，有可能解决这些问题的人
In fact, the individuals that were likely to solve them
是低级的从属个体，尤其是雄性
were low-ranking subordinate individuals, and particularly males.
优势个体能够通过偷窃获得食物，
Dominant individuals were able to get food by stealing,
所以它们不需要创新
so they don’t need to innovate.
需要创新的是底层员工
It’s the low-ranking individuals that need to innovate
因为，本质上，需要是发明之母
because, essentially, necessity is the mother of invention.
尤其是雄性，因为是雄性
And especially the males, because it’s the males
它们会离开自己出生的群体，
who will leave their natal group,
去其他地方寻找繁殖机会，
to go and look for breeding opportunities elsewhere,
所以当它们离开时，它们真的会面临困难
so they’re really going to face hardship when they leave.
它为它们支付了费用
And it pays for them
去尝试寻找新的获取食物的方法
to try and figure out new ways of getting food.
在沙漠中，猫鼬必须非常有创造力
In the desert, a meerkat has to be very inventive
能抓到什么就吃什么
and eat just about anything it can get its paws on.
千足虫,蜥蜴,
Millipedes, lizards,
沙蛙，甚至蛇
sand frogs and even snakes
都在菜单上
are all on the menu.
如果猫鼬可以选择，
If a meerkat had a choice,
它每次都会去找蝎子
it’d go for a scorpion every time.
它有讨厌的刺和坚硬的爪子，
It has a nasty sting and tough claws,
但它富含蛋白质
but it’s packed full of protein.
随着时间的推移，猫鼬已经弄清楚了如何对付它们
Over time, the meerkats have worked out exactly how to take them on.
在哪里压制住它们
Where to hold them down.
去哪里咀嚼
Where to crunch.
对小毛豆来说，这就像一场游戏，他想加入其中
To Squirt, it looks like a game and he wants to join in.
但现在还没有
But not yet.
亚历克斯对猫鼬学习的速度非常着迷
Alex was fascinated by how quickly meerkats learned
来解决相当棘手的问题
to solve quite tricky problems.
多年来，各种研究表明
Over the years, various studies suggested
有些物种的幼崽是由成年动物教会解决问题的，
that the young of some species are taught problem-solving by adults,
但这从未得到过明确的证明
but it had never been clearly demonstrated.
如果这可以在猫鼬身上得到证实，
If it could be proved with meerkats,
这意味着猫鼬可以做一些事情，在当时，
it would mean that meerkats could do something that, at the time,
只在另一种哺乳动物身上观察到过
had only ever been observed in one other mammal –
人类
humans.
小毛豆和小维尼需要自己学习如何杀死蝎子
Squirt and Weeny need to learn how to kill a scorpion for themselves.
所以年长的帮手会教它们
So the older helpers are going to teach them.
第一步是让老师去除刺
The first step is for the teacher to remove the sting
然后让它们去对付一只活的但无害的蝎子
and then leave them to tackle a live but harmless scorpion.
当它们能够处理这些时，下一步就是教它们
When they can handle that,the next step is to teach them
如何为自己咬下活蝎子的刺
how to bite the sting off a live scorpion for themselves.
在当时，这是一个重要的发现
At the time, it was an important discovery
因为这是第一个证据
because it was the first evidence
野生动物确实会教书
that wild animals do teach.
人们普遍认为教学是一种
It was commonly thought that teaching was something that
只发生在人类社会中
happened only in human societies.
所以通过找到在猫鼬身上教学的证据，
So by finding evidence for teaching in meerkats,
我们可以开始拼凑拼图了
we could begin to start to piece together a puzzle
关于教学是如何发展的，
of how teaching might have evolved,
所以我们能够观察猫鼬是如何教学的
so we were able to look at how the meerkats teach.
现在亚历克斯把这些拼凑起来了，
Now that Alex had pieced this together,
他开始注意另一个有趣的方面
he began to look at another intriguing aspect
猫鼬的行为
of meerkat behaviour.
就像我们一样，它们有不同程度的热情
Just like us, they have different levels of enthusiasm
关于早上从床上跳起来
about leaping out of bed in the morning.
不仅仅是父母
It’s not just the parents
它们挣扎着把幼崽带出洞穴
who struggle to get their pups out of the burrow.
对于整个家庭来说，有一个早起的传统
For whole families, there’s a tradition of early rising
或者睡懒觉永远不会变，即使是很多年
or having a lie-in that never changes, even over years.
这是传下来的
And it’s passed down
代代相传
from generation to generation.
在十多年的时间里，
Over a period of more than a decade,
我们会发现邻近的一群人会起得晚，
we’ll find that one neighbouring group will get up late,
邻近的另一群人会早起
another neighbouring group will get up early.
事实上，我们几乎可以用它来设置闹钟
And, in fact, we can almost set ouralarm clocks by it.
就像法国没有下午茶一样，
So just as you don’t have afternoon tea in France,
但你在英国有
but you do in England,
猫鼬向它们的群体展示了特定的传统
the meerkats show specific traditions to their groups.
一旦他发现了猫鼬的一个传统，
Once he had discovered one tradition amongst meerkats,
他想看看是否还有其他传统可以传承
he wanted to see if other traditions could be passed
从个人到个人
from individual to individual.
所以他设计了一个实验来验证这一点
So he devised an experiment to test this.
他想知道猫鼬能否识别出奖励的形状，
He wanted to know if a meerkat could recognise a shape for a reward,
如果其他猫鼬
and if other meerkats
可以学习遵循这个新的传统
could learn to follow this new tradition.
我们所做的是，在一些猫鼬群体中，
So what we did is that in some groups of meerkats,
我们训练了一个人，我们称之为演示者，
we trained one individual, who we called the demonstrator,
让所有人都看不到
out of sight of everyone else
接近其中一个字母而不接近另一个字母
to approach one of the letters but not the other.
每个字母都有回报
Each letter has the reward
旁边的沙子里埋着鸡蛋屑
of egg crumbs buried in the sand next to it.
如果它们想喝，还可以选择其他的水
With an alternative choice of water if they want it.
示范者被教走
The demonstrator is taught to go
去找他的款待
to the letter Y to find his treat.
亚历克斯发现当
What Alex found was that when
其他未经训练的猫鼬最先到达，
other untrained meerkats first arrived,
它们忽视了自己的天性
they ignored their own natural instincts
在它们能闻到的地方挖出食物
to dig up food where they could smell it.
相反，它们跟随第一只猫鼬的足迹
Instead, they followed the lead of the first meerkat
向着字母Y，
towards the letter Y,
通过社会学习建立一种新的传统
establishing a new tradition by social learning.
就像一个新夜♥总♥会♥或餐馆的时尚一样，
Just like a fad for a new nightclub or restaurant,
字母Y很快就变成了要去的地方
the letter Y soon becomes THE place to be.
这是十年来最严重的干旱，
It’s the worst drought of the decade,
功夫群就在中间
and the Kung Fu are in the middle of it.
几乎12个月没有下雨
Almost no rain for 12 months.
小毛豆和小维尼差不多三个月大了
Pups Squirt and Weeny are nearly three months old.
在干燥的土地上，几乎没有食物可以挖
In the parched earth, there’s little food to dig for.
这家人越来越少了
The family are growing thin.
强风横扫受灾地区
Strong winds sweep across the stricken land.
当它们在喀拉哈里沙漠上涌动时，激起了巨大的沙尘暴
As they surge over the Kalahari, they whip up huge dust storms.
功夫群的猫鼬很紧张
The Kung Fu are nervous.
它们迷失了方向
They are disorientated
彼此失去联♥系♥
and lose touch with each other.
暴风雨使它们四散奔逃
The storm sends them fleeing in all directions.
暴风雨终于过去了
The storm finally passes.