科学60秒(60-Second Science)是世界上最著名的科学英语广播，010-
收听“科学60秒”，既能知新，又可练耳。Lizard Picks Best Color--to Stand against
蜥蜴：合“色”求生
撰文/播音 詹森·G·古德曼 (Jason G. Goldman)
翻译 Meatle
审校 邰伦玥
Chameleons have it easy. If they need to hide from a predator they just change their appearance, and disappear against whatever they happen to be standing on. Surrounded by leaves?Turn green. Tree trunk? Brown it is.
伪装对于变色龙来说是小菜一碟。如果它们需要躲避猎食者，它们仅仅需要改变它们的颜色，就能从它们所面对的危险前消失。边上都是绿叶？那就变绿。树干？那就变棕色。
But Aegean wall lizards have a different strategy. They live on the Greek Islands. And instead of changing their appearance, they find a safer spot. That is, they’re really good at picking out just the right background to minimize the chances that they’ll be spotted by a hungry crow or raptor.
然而，分布在希腊诸岛上的爱琴海壁虎有另外一种策略。它们寻找最安全的地点，而不是改变自己的颜色。它们相当擅长于寻找合适的地点藏身，以降低它们被饥饿的乌鸦或是猛禽发现的风险。
That’s according to a new study in the journal Scientific Reports. [Kate L. A. Marshall, Kate E. Philpot, and Martin Stevens, Microhabitat choice in island lizards enhances camouflage against avian predators]
这是根据《科学研究》(Scientific Reports)上发表的一项新研究。
Birds can perceive both visible and ultraviolet light, so researchers snapped regular and UV photos of lizards basking on rocks to figure out how the lizards look to birds. The scientists discovered that the lizards’ camouflage is precisely tuned to avian eyeballs, helping them seem to disappear. Lizards with darker backs hang out on darker rocks. Lighter ones choose lighter rocks. It’s the first time that wild animals have been recorded explicitly choosing the best background to enhance their own camouflage.
鸟类可以看到可见光和紫外线，因此研究人员用常规和紫外线相机拍摄了岩石上的晒太阳的壁虎，以研究壁虎在鸟类眼中的样子。研究人员发现壁虎的伪装刚好针对的是鸟类的眼睛，让它们看起来像是消失了一样。体色较深的壁虎选择停留在颜色较深的岩石上；体色较浅的壁虎选择颜色较浅的岩石。这是首次发现野生动物会明确地选择最合适的场景以增强它们自身的伪装。
Another observation: when lizards aren’t under the constant threat of death, they’re less picky. “On the island with the lower risk this kind of background choice, to improve their level of camouflage, is much less evident than on the island with high predation risk.”
另外一个观察表明：当壁虎不是面临着持续的生存威胁时，它们的选择就没那么挑剔了。“在生存风险更低的岛屿上，相对于更高生存威胁的岛屿，这种选择背景以增加自身的伪装等级的状况更少发生。”
University of Cambridge zoologist Kate Marshall, lead researcher of the study.
剑桥大学的动物学家凯特·马歇尔(Kate Marshell)负责领导该项研究。
To pick out the right rocks, Aegean wall lizards must have an awareness of what color they are. But how do they know? “It’s a big puzzle, and I’m fascinated by the answer. Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer yet, and hopefully this study will inspire future research into it.”
为了选择合适的岩石，爱琴海壁虎必须知道自身的颜色。然而它们是如何知道的？“那是很大的疑团，我对它的答案非常好奇。不过，我仍不知道答案，我希望这个研究将会激发后续的研究者从事该研究。”
点击阅读原文，或在环球科学ScientificAmerican微信订阅号主页点击“听广播”可获取“科学60秒”推送目录，141009及之前的内容可通过回复日期代码获取音频和中英文对照脚本，141009之后的内容可直接点击链接到包含音频的页面。
