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進入《中英對照讀新聞》Penguins identify mates, kin by smell, study finds 研究發現，企鵝靠嗅覺鑑別伴侶與親人
◎張沛元
Penguins can sniff out the door of lifelong mates, helping them reunite in crowded colonies, and also can identify the scent of close kin to avoid inbreeding, scientists said.
科學家表示，企鵝能靠嗅覺找出通往終身伴侶的大門，協助牠們在擁擠的棲息地團聚，以及能辨識出近親的氣味，避免近親交配。
Some seabirds have previously been known to use their sense of smell to find food or locate nesting sites but the experiments with captive Humboldt Penguins at Brookfield Zoo near Chicago proved, for the first time, that the birds use scent to discriminate between close relatives and strangers.
過去就知道有些海鳥會利用其嗅覺來覓食或鎖定巢穴位置，但這些針對豢養在芝加哥附近的布魯克菲爾德動物園內的漢波德企鵝的實驗首度證明，這些鳥兒使用嗅覺來鑑別近親與陌生客。
“Other animals do it, we do it, so why can’t birds？” said Jill Mateo, a biopsychologist at the University of Chicago, who worked with graduate student Heather Coffin on the research published in the journal PLoS ONE.
「其他動物也會這麼做，我們人類就會，憑什麼這些鳥不會？」芝加哥大學生物心理學家吉兒‧馬特歐說。這份由馬特歐與研究生海瑟‧寇芬一同進行的研究已發表於《公共科學圖書館—綜合》（PLoS ONE）期刊。
“Their sense of smell can help them find their mates and perhaps choose their mates,” Mateo said.
「牠們的嗅覺能協助牠們找到牠們的伴侶，以及可能（協助牠們）選擇伴侶，」馬特歐說。
“Seafaring birds that travel long distances in the ocean use odors to find food and use odors to recognize nests but we didn’t know what odors or the extent to which they could use odors to recognize kin,” Mateo said.
「在海上長途旅行的海鳥利用氣味覓食，以及利用氣味來辨識巢穴，但我們過去不知道牠們用什麼氣味辨識親人，或牠們能利用氣味來辨識親人到什麼程度，」馬特歐說。
新聞辭典
sniff out：片語，以嗅察鎖定某人或某事。例句：The dog sniffed out the mole in the lawn.（那隻狗靠嗅覺找到躲在草坪裡的鼴鼠。）
inbreed：動詞，近親交配。
discriminate between A and B：片語，辨識、區分A與B。例句：I find it hard these days to discriminate between my friends and my enemies.（我發現如今區分敵友並非易事。）
