幼鸟甚至在孵化前就会互相交流

幼鸟甚至在孵化前就会互相交流

A bird's nest is a hub of communication. There are the squeaks and chirps of hatchlings clamoring for food. And mom telling them to hush when a predator rears its head.

鸟巢是沟通的枢纽。有吱吱叫和唧唧叫的幼雏吵着要食物。妈妈告诉他们当捕食者抬起头来的时候要安静。

But now scientists say that level of communication begins long before the babies even hatch.

但现在科学家们说，这种交流水平早在婴儿出生前就开始了。

These eggs may know more about the world outside than they're letting on. (Photo: Kichigin/Shutterstock)

A study published this week in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution finds bird embryos chat with each other — using vibrations — while still inside the egg.

本周发表在《自然生态与进化》杂志上的一项研究发现，鸟类胚胎在卵内通过振动彼此交流。

And, as a result, they know when it's safe to hatch or if they should bide their time in the comfort and relative safety of their shells.

因此，它们知道什么时候孵化是安全的，或者它们是否应该在舒适和相对安全的壳中等待时间。

To test that theory, a team of biologists from Spain's University of Vigo looked to birds that hatch in a particularly precarious setting: Sálvora Island, off the country's Galician coast. A popular mating spot for yellow-legged gulls, the island is also home to a population of minks with a taste for baby birds.

为了验证这一理论，来自西班牙维戈大学的一组生物学家观察了在一个特别危险的环境中孵化的鸟类:萨尔瓦多岛，离该国的加利西亚海岸不远。该岛是黄腿海鸥的交配胜地，也是一群喜欢吃小鸟的水貂的家园。

As such, knowing when to break out of one's shell is a matter of life and death.

因此，知道什么时候该破壳而出是一件生死攸关的事。

For their experiment, researchers carefully gathered sea bird eggs and organized them into test groups under incubators. One group was regularly subjected to recordings of adult predator alarm calls — essentially a parent's warning that danger was near.

在他们的实验中，研究人员仔细收集了海鸟的蛋，并将它们组织成孵卵器下的测试组。其中一组定期接受成年食肉动物的报警电话录音——基本上是父母发出的危险即将来临的警告。

Meanwhile, another batch of eggs remained in a soundproof box oblivious to simulated threats.

与此同时，另一批蛋留在一个隔音的盒子里，对模拟的威胁浑然不觉。

When all the eggs were returned to the same incubator and placed in physical contact with each other, scientists made a stunning observation: the eggs that had been exposed to warning calls vibrated more than those that had been undisturbed.

当所有的蛋都被放回同一个培养箱，并彼此进行身体接触时，科学家们进行了一个惊人的观察:那些受到警告呼叫的蛋比那些没有受到干扰的蛋振动得更厉害。

"We were very surprised," lead author Jose Noguera, of the Animal Ecology Group at the University of Vigo, told The Guardian. "We were aware that bird embryos were able to produce egg vibrations, [but they vibrated] even more than we expected."

“我们非常惊讶，”维戈大学动物生态小组的首席作者Jose Noguera告诉《卫报》。“我们知道鸟类胚胎能够产生卵子振动，(但它们的振动)比我们预期的还要大。”

Those tremors were caused by embryos wriggling nervously in their shells. And, like a Morse-code transmission from behind those thin calcium walls, it found keen ears among the rest of the eggs.

这些震动是由胚胎在蛋壳里紧张地蠕动引起的。而且，就像从那些薄薄的钙壁后面传来的莫尔斯密码一样，它在其余的蛋中发现了敏锐的耳朵。

When mom warns of danger, even embryos take note. (Photo: StockPhotoAstur/Shutterstock)

In fact, when the eggs finally hatched, the chicks clearly showed they had already received a kind of heads-up about their environment — even the ones that had only been exposed to the vibrations of their alarmed peers.

事实上，当这些蛋最终孵出时，雏鸟们清楚地表明，它们已经对周围的环境有了一定的了解——即使是那些只暴露在惊慌同伴振动下的环境。

The newborns, according to the study, emerged in a state of caution: Compared to a control group, they took longer to shed their shells, remained much quieter.

根据这项研究，这些新生儿出现时处于一种谨慎的状态:与对照组相比，它们蜕壳的时间更长，更安静。

They also revealed physical signs of pre-induced anxiety, including higher levels of stress hormones and fewer copies of mitochondrial DNA per cell.

他们还发现了预先诱发焦虑的生理迹象，包括应激激素水平升高和每个细胞线粒体DNA拷贝数减少。

The embryonic information highway had equipped all the hatchlings for the uncertain environment they were entering.

刚刚萌芽的信息高速公路使所有的幼雏都适应了不确定的环境。

"Our results clearly show that bird embryos exchange valuable information, probably regarding risk of predation, with their siblings," researchers noted in the paper.

研究人员在论文中指出:“我们的研究结果清楚地表明，鸟类胚胎与它们的兄弟姐妹交换了有价值的信息，可能是关于捕食风险的。”