皱面蝙蝠独特的求偶方式

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Susanne Bard.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是苏珊娜·巴德。

What do you call a bat that only eats fruit, but isn’t classified as one of the fruit bats?

你把只吃水果但不属于果蝠一类的蝙蝠叫什么?

One species that fits that description is thought to live in forests from Southern Mexico to the north end of South America.

一种符合这种描述的物种被认为生活在从墨西哥南部到南美洲北端的森林中。

But they're so rarely seen that very little is known about them, apart from their unique appearance—which is why the species is called the wrinkle-faced bat.

但它们是如此罕见，除了它们独特的外表外，人们对它们知之甚少-这就是为什么这个物种被称为皱面蝙蝠。

“Many people say that these bats are really ugly, but the word ugly is for bat biologists a forbidden word.

“很多人说这些蝙蝠真的很丑，但丑这个词对蝙蝠生物学家来说是一个禁忌。

So, I think we all agree that they are pretty special looking bats.” University of Ulm researcher Marco Tschapka.

所以，我想我们都同意它们是长得很特别的蝙蝠。” 乌尔姆大学的研究人员马尔科·查普卡说。

His colleague Gloria Gessinger, agrees.

他的同事格洛丽亚·格辛格表示同意。

“Most bats look like cute little puppies, but they have a very wrinkly face and it's just a lot of wrinkles everywhere.

“大多数蝙蝠看起来像可爱的小狗，但它们的脸上有很多皱纹，到处都是皱纹。

But something else about the males may be an even more unusual facial feature.

但雄性的其他特征可能是一个更不寻常的面部特征。

“It's very easy to distinguish between male and female, because the males have this funny face mask.”

“很容易区分雄性和雌性，因为雄性蝙蝠带有这个有趣的面具。”

Using their little bat thumbs, males can pull up a furry flap of skin to cover their faces like a mask.

雄性蝙蝠可以用它们的小拇指掀起一片毛茸茸的皮肤，像面具一样遮盖住自己的脸。

“The bat almost tries to hide its entire face inside of the mask.

“蝙蝠几乎想把整个脸都藏在面具里。

And people have suspected for a long time that these masks have something to do with matings.”

很长时间以来，人们一直怀疑这些面具与交配有关。”

But the bats' courtship is difficult to study because they are so hard to find.

但是蝙蝠的求偶行为很难研究，因为很难发现它们。

That is, until 2018, when Tschapka and Gessinger's colleague, University of Costa Rica biologist Bernal Rodríguez-Herrera, received a tip that a group of males had been spotted in a highland forest.

直到2018年，查普卡和格辛格的同事，哥斯达黎加大学生物学家贝尔纳尔·罗德里格斯-埃雷拉，收到一个消息，称在高地森林中发现了一群雄性蝙蝠。

His team rushed there to record their behaviors using infrared video cameras and specialized microphones.

他的团队冲到那里，用红外摄像机和专用麦克风记录下它们的行为。

“The objective was that we get as much information as possible about these animals.

“我们的目标是尽可能多地获取这些动物的信息。

And the bats stayed there for something like six weeks.”

蝙蝠在那里呆了大约六个星期。”

The animals formed what's called a lek, where a group of males hangs out in a small area, displaying extravagantly to females—an uncommon reproductive strategy in bats.

这种动物形成了所谓的“求偶场”，即一群雄性在一个小区域内活动，向雌性大肆展示——这在蝙蝠中是一种不常见的繁殖策略。

The males start their display by rubbing their fingers together for hours.

雄性蝙蝠开始用手指摩擦数小时。

“Which looks really weird.”

“这看起来真的很奇怪。”

Eventually, they begin to sing, even with their faces covered.

最后，他们开始鸣啼，甚至蒙着脸。

“And they do these trills and echolocation calls on their perches. The trill sounds something like this: “brrrrr”.

“它们在栖息地发出颤音和回声。 颤音听起来像这样：“brrrrrr”。

“…and then the echolocation calls in between, and then trills again.”

“然后回声出现在两者之间，然后再次发出颤音。”

The ultrasound recordings have been slowed down to be in the range of human hearing.

超声波记录已经减慢到人类可以听到的范围。

“Sometimes they put the mask down and up again, and then they continue singing.”

“有时它们会把面具放下，再拿起来，然后继续啼叫下去。”

But if another bat approaches, they start making noise with their wings.

但如果另一只蝙蝠靠近，它们就开始用翅膀制造声音。

“…followed by this super-loud whistle sequence.”

“……然后是超级响亮的哨声序列。”

After a sequence of sounds, the researchers documented one mating between a male and a female.

在一系列的声音之后，研究人员记录了雄性和雌性蝙蝠之间的一次交配。

They think the raised mask and sounds, along with odor cues, may play an important role in the wrinkle-faced bats’ courtship.

他们认为，拉起的面具和升高的声音，以及浓烈的气味线索，可能在皱纹脸蝙蝠的求爱过程中发挥了重要作用。

The study is in the journal PLOS ONE.

该研究成果发表在《PLOS ONE》期刊上。

Many questions remain.

许多问题依然存在。

So researchers returned to the site a year later in hopes of learning more about the elusive bats' courtship behaviors.

因此，一年后，研究人员又回到了这个地点，希望能更多地了解这种难以捉摸的蝙蝠的求偶行为。

But the bats were nowhere to be found.

但蝙蝠却无处可寻。

“So you really need to have a lot of luck to learn more about this.”

“所以你真的需要非常幸运才能了解更多蝙蝠的情况。”

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Susanne Bard.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是苏珊娜·巴德。