关于瞪羚你可能不知道的事实

关于瞪羚你可能不知道的事实

Gazelles are famously fleet-footed members of the antelope family, living primarily in dry, open habitats like deserts and grasslands. They tend to gather in migratory or nomadic herds, remaining vigilant about predators as they roam the landscape to eat grasses and shrubs.

瞪羚是著名的敏捷的羚羊家族成员，主要生活在干旱，开阔的栖息地，如沙漠和草原。它们倾向于聚集在迁徙的或游牧的群落中，当它们漫步在草地和灌木上时，对捕食者保持警惕。

A Thomson's gazelle surveys the savanna in Talek, Kenya.Lars Johansson / EyeEm / Getty Images

These generally tan-colored herbivores are fixtures of arid regions in Africa and Asia, yet they are also easily overlooked, often seeming like part of the scenery until they suddenly bolt at the sight of a cheetah. In honor of these elegant ungulates, some of which are struggling to coexist with our species, here are a few interesting things you may not know about gazelles.

这些通常是棕黄色的草食动物是非洲和亚洲干旱地区的常客，但它们也很容易被忽视，通常看起来像是风景的一部分，直到它们突然看到猎豹时才突然闪避。为了纪念这些优雅的有蹄类动物，其中一些正在努力与我们的物种共存，这里有一些你可能不知道的关于瞪羚的有趣的事情。

1. Gazelles Don't Outrun Cheetahs – They Outmaneuver Them

瞪羚并没有跑得比猎豹快——它们在机动上比猎豹强

Gazelles aren't as fast as cheetahs, but they still often find ways to escape. Nick Dale / EyeEm / Getty Images

Gazelles are undeniably fast sprinters. A Thomson's gazelle can run up to 43 mph (70 kph), but some species can reach speeds as high as 60 mph (100 kph). That's twice as fast as the top speed on record by a human runner — Usain Bolt's 27 mph (43 kph) — but it still isn't always fast enough. It might help them escape an African lion or African wild dog, but cheetahs can sprint up to 75 mph (120 kph).

瞪羚是不可否认的短跑健将。汤姆逊瞪羚的奔跑速度可达每小时43英里(每小时70公里)，但有些物种的奔跑速度可达每小时60英里(每小时100公里)。这一速度是人类跑步运动员最高纪录——尤塞恩·博尔特的27英里/小时(43公里/小时)的两倍，但仍然不够快。猎豹的奔跑速度可以达到每小时75英里(每小时120公里)。

Rather than trying to outrun the world's fastest land animal, gazelles often focus on outmaneuvering and outlasting it. Forcing a cheetah to change directions can help undercut the cat's speed advantage, but it can also be risky if the chase is close. Perhaps a gazelle's greatest asset is endurance: Cheetahs can only sprint for about 0.28 miles (0.45 km), while gazelles can maintain high speeds for significantly longer. They just need to stay ahead long enough for the cheetah to run out of gas, although they might also try to end the chase even earlier with a very different tactic.

瞪羚不会试图跑过世界上最快的陆地动物，相反，它们往往更注重机动和持续时间。强迫猎豹改变方向可能会削弱它的速度优势，但如果猎豹的追赶距离很近，这样做也有风险。也许瞪羚最大的资产是耐力:猎豹只能冲刺0.28英里(0.45公里)，而瞪羚可以保持高速度更长的时间。它们只需要在前面保持足够长的时间，直到猎豹把油用光，尽管它们也可能会用一种完全不同的策略尽早结束追捕。

2.They Can Shrink Their Hearts and Livers

它们可以收缩心脏和肝脏

A sand gazelle in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, United Arab Emirates.Charles J. Sharp / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Gazelles are well-adapted to life in dry environments, but even they may struggle when food and water dwindle in severe droughts. Some species can adjust their physiology to cope — sand gazelles, for example, have evolved the ability to shrink oxygen-demanding organs like the heart and liver during lean times. This allows them to breathe less, which might reduce the amount of water lost to respiratory evaporation.

瞪羚很好地适应了干旱环境下的生活，但在严重干旱中食物和水减少的情况下，即使是它们也会挣扎。有些物种可以调整自己的生理机能以适应这种情况——例如，沙瞪羚已经进化出了在经济困难时期收缩心脏和肝脏等需要氧气的器官的能力。这使它们呼吸更少，这可能减少因呼吸蒸发而损失的水量。

3.Some Gazelles Honk When They're Nervous

有些瞪羚紧张时会鸣叫

The critically endangered dama gazelle honks when nervous.Kazzaz Photography / Getty Images

Like other antelopes, gazelles make a wide range of noises. These include snorts, grunts, bleats, and bellows, to name a few. The dama gazelle of north-central Africa, for one, makes an "endearing honk" when it sees something worrisome, according to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. The tone varies in length and pitch, and every individual sounds different.

和其他羚羊一样，瞪羚也会发出各种各样的声音。这些声音包括鼻息、呼噜声、咩咩声和风箱声等等。例如，据史密森保护生物学研究所称，非洲中北部的瞪羚在看到令人担忧的事情时，会发出“可爱的叫声”。音调的长度和音高各不相同，每个音听起来都不一样。

4.Young Male Gazelles May Form 'Bachelor Herds'

年轻的雄性瞪羚可能形成“单身汉群体”。

A herd of Thomson's gazelles mingle in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park. Paul Souders / Getty Images

Gazelles are primarily social animals, often congregating in massive herds. Some gazelle gatherings contain hundreds of individuals, although many others are much smaller and segregated by sex.

瞪羚主要是群居动物，经常成群生活。有些瞪羚聚集的地方有数百只，但也有许多小得多，而且按性别分开。

Among Thomson's gazelles, females form migratory groups that enter the territory of males, especially those whose territories include more resources like food, water, and shade. Younger males gather in bachelor herds, which are excluded from areas claimed by territorial males. These bachelor herds are found mainly at the periphery of an area populated by gazelles and are thus often the first to be encountered by predators.

在汤姆逊瞪羚中，雌瞪羚会形成迁徙群体，进入雄瞪羚的领地，特别是那些领地中有更多资源，如食物、水和树荫的瞪羚。年轻的雄性聚集在独身的群体中，他们被排除在雄性的领地之外。这些单身的鹿群主要出现在瞪羚聚居区域的外围，因此往往是最先被掠食者遇到的。