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生物学家发现了世界上最小的潜水哺乳动物 —— 水鼩的基因秘密。
Water shrews are diminutive1, long-snouted mammals. They weigh less than one AA battery, and lose heat quickly, and burn energy constantly in tiny active muscles.
水鼩是一种体型纤小、长吻的哺乳动物。这类动物的体重还不足一节AA（5号）电池，它们体内的热量会迅速流失，微小的活动肌肉中不断燃烧着能量。
But the ability to feed on all the insect larvae2 that live on the beds of rivers and streams has driven them to forage3 under water. The researchers from the University of Liverpool created a genetic4 family tree of related insect-eating mammals, including hedgehogs and moles5.
然而，水鼩为了能吃到在河床和溪床上生活的所有昆虫幼虫，不得不到水下觅食。利物浦大学的研究人员们创建了一个有亲缘关系的食虫类哺乳动物的基因家谱，包括刺猬和鼹鼠。
They discovered shrews and moles had evolved the ability to store much more oxygen in their muscles. This allowed water shrews to hold their breath for up to 24 seconds – more than enough time to find all of that hidden aquatic6 prey7.
研究人员们发现，鼩类和鼹鼠进化出了在肌肉中储存更多氧气的能力。这使水鼩能够在水中屏吸长达24秒，足以让它们寻觅那些隐蔽的水生猎物。
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