黑猩猩会挑选重量合适的工具砸坚果

时间：2012-07-19 03:01:09

（单词翻译:单击）

Chimpanzees use weight to pick the best tool, and monkeys beg more when they're paid attention to, as reported in two independent research reports published July 18 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. In the chimp¹ study, researchers found that the chimpanzees used weight to choose the best hammer to crack open nuts. Nut cracking is one of the most sophisticated instances of tool use in chimpanzees, and learning how to do it has been shown to be very difficult for some chimps². In work led by Cornelia Schrauf of the University of Vienna, the researchers showed that the chimps were able to choose the best tool to crack nuts based solely³ on the weight of the tool. Schrauf notes, "Experience clearly affected⁴ the subjects' attentiveness⁵ to the relevant tool properties. Whereas the most skilled chimpanzee showed a preference for the most efficient hammers from the early beginning of the experiment, the unskilled individuals became selective over time."

In another study, old world monkeys called Mangabeys were shown to modulate⁶（调节） their begging behavior based on whether the experimenter was paying attention to them. The monkeys were trained to make "requesting gestures," and the researchers, led by Audrey Maille of the University of Rennes 1 in France, found that the monkeys gestured more and faster when the experimenter's body and head were facing the monkey than when they were oriented away. The monkeys did not modulate their behavior simply based on the direction of the experimenter's gaze, though.

Maille explains, "Our study deals with…whether functional⁷ similarities may be found between human language and nonhuman primates⁸ communication. By investigating the flexibility⁹ of gestures production, we showed that old world monkeys, and not only great apes, may use communicative signals intentionally¹⁰."

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1 chimp
n.黑猩猩
参考例句：
In fact,the color of gorilla and chimp are light-color.其实大猩猩和黑猩猩的肤色是较为浅的。 The chimp is the champ.猩猩是冠军。

2 chimps
（非洲）黑猩猩( chimp的名词复数 )
参考例句：
Chimps are too scarce, and too nearly human, to be routinely slaughtered for spare parts. 黑猩猩又太少，也太接近于人类，不可以作为人器官备用件说杀就杀。来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命 And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

3 solely
adv.仅仅，唯一地
参考例句：
Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。 The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

4 affected
adj.不自然的，假装的
参考例句：
She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。 His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 attentiveness
[医]注意
参考例句：
They all helped one another with humourous attentiveness. 他们带着近于滑稽的殷勤互相周旋。来自辞典例句 Is not attentiveness the nature of, even the function of, Conscious? 专注不正是大我意识的本质甚或活动吗？来自互联网

6 modulate
v.调整，调节(音的强弱)；变调
参考例句：
Please modulate the sound on the TV.请调节一下电视的音量。 This system could modulate the voice signal effectively.这个系统可以对语音信号进行有效的调制。

7 functional
adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的
参考例句：
The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。 The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

8 primates
primate的复数
参考例句：
Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。 Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

9 flexibility
n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性
参考例句：
Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。 The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

10 intentionally
ad.故意地，有意地
参考例句：
I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。 The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。