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本帖最后由 sunsong7 于 2011-1-23 17:11 编辑 ; K( ?3 R/ y6 `3 [$ @7 G, k
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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。
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. t# D1 D: F( u# C+ e. ]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。+ K' U$ P( z s7 Z" P
2 b6 Y- T3 q9 g1 v( f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。& V o1 y2 c& d6 j
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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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4 Q5 s( M0 v$ r( x$ i/ z( `5 R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。4 \" i9 C# d# j: O$ f5 q$ e. j
' Z: |' U& l3 x7 x/ Y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”。
& ~! ~0 Q. i: J+ y9 {Prairie dogs have a language all of their own and 'can describe what humans look like'
( w' p @% m! }- k/ X9 uBy Graham Smith Last updated at 5:49 PM on 21st January 2011
/ z, p/ J) r9 f! O/ e' G: W- ]It's a language that would twist the tongue of even the most sophisticated linguist.0 @ p% l# @" J: q; [& W# x0 T
Prairie dogs talk to each other and can describe what different human beings look like, according to scientists.
# Q8 ]$ J4 L5 p8 P! U- F8 ]- U2 KThe species - only found in North America - call out to warn their friends when a predator approaches their habitat.
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. B5 O' h! |* _Rodent species: Prairie dogs - only found in North America - call out to warn their friends when a predator approaches their habitat, scientists believe4 I2 l v5 i W: |' K- Z+ K" z
Not only that, but they have calls for 'human', one for 'hawk' and another for 'coyote', radio station NPR reports.
' o( C/ ~: t: l. Z" y* b2 ?6 xProfessor Con Slobodchikoff, of Northern Arizona University, has been studying prairie dogs for 30 years.
2 l8 A/ ?; @: ~( ?He is particularly interested in deciphering their language because to do so would 'open the door for understanding how other species communicate'.
3 A o. r) ^0 R; JThe 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.: ^ _ c5 d7 H5 t9 C
'The little yips prairie dogs make contain a lot of information,' he said.
( n6 N( |( R5 l$ a' o3 o( C Professor Con Slobodchikoff, of Northern Arizona University, has been studying prairie dogs for 30 years. b) e# i' N$ s. I; m/ l
'They can describe details of predators such as their size, shape, colour and how fast they are going.- N" j4 W: w+ ~$ y9 `. K
'They also can discriminate whether an approaching animal is a coyote or a dog, and they can decipher different types of birds.'! q: K0 @5 p8 s2 N4 Z3 R
Professor 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.( [: D, f9 g. `
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. / t/ }/ T. o1 K! B( l H! N
+ e& A1 K; m7 v9 LThey concluded that it doesn't have one call for 'danger', rather it has a collection of warning noises - or a language.5 \: p0 W& J" F" Q
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.* g1 o# a; u6 m- i/ s5 ]* T
The prairie dogs responded by issuing different calls, depending on the colour of the volunteers' shirts.4 o# P6 Q7 h5 F' `: e$ _# Q
Professor Slobodchikoff then discovered they also issued different calls for varying heights, and even for abstract shapes including cardboard circles, squares and triangles.
7 x4 l7 \2 V2 j) o0 ^9 qHe told NPR: 'Essentially they were saying, "Here comes the tall human in the blue," versus, "Here comes the short human in the yellow."'7 d% }2 D2 b9 a7 M
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/scien ... mans-look-like.html }! v% I0 [- ~4 Y+ u* h) u
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发表于 2011-1-23 17:07
发表于 2011-1-23 19:36
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