Biologists studying the prairie dogs have found that they have one of the most sophisticated languages in the animal kingdom-second only to humans.
研究草原犬鼠的生物學家發現，牠們擁有堪稱動物王國中最複雜的語言—僅次於人類。
The findings have surprised many wildlife experts as it was assumed that mankind’s closest relatives, primates, or intelligent mammals such as dolphins were likely to be the most talkative species after humans.
該發現讓許多野生動物學家感到驚訝，因為一般以為人類近親的靈長類動物，或諸如海豚等聰明動物可能是僅次於人類的最健談物種。
But Professor Con Slobodchikoff, a biologist at Northern Arizona University, has discovered that the prairie dogs’ squeaky bark contains surprising amounts of information that can describe colours, size, directions of travel and even speed.
但北亞利桑那大學的生物學家斯洛伯契科夫教授發現，草原犬鼠刺耳的高叫聲包含令人驚訝的資訊量，這些訊息能傳達顏色、大小、行進方向，甚至速度。
He first discovered the animals’ ability to communicate by studying the alarm calls they make when predators enter their territories.
藉由研究掠食動物進入草原犬鼠領地時，牠們發出的警訊，他才首度發現這類動物的溝通能力。
Prairie dogs are highly social and live in large colonies that can span hundreds of acres of the grasslands of North America. They use loud panic calls to alert other members of the colony of a threat.
草原犬鼠是高度群居的生物，其聚落可橫跨北美數百英畝綠地。牠們常利用緊急高叫警告聚落其他成員出現威脅。
新聞辭典
second only to︰僅次於；second to none則指不比任何差，例句︰As a baseball picther Chien-Ming Wang is second to none.（作為一名棒球投手，王建民是首屈一指了。）
sophisticated︰形容詞，精密的、複雜的；也有矯柔造作的、老於世故之意，例如，a sophisticated manner（矯柔造作的舉止。）
predator︰名詞，掠奪者、捕食者，形容詞predatory有掠奪性的、損人利己的之意，例如，predatory price-cutting（掠奪性削價。）
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