阿德利企鹅的“性交易”
[ 2007-01-08 14:42 ]
用性来交换东西并不是人类社会所独有的，生活在南极冰天雪地中的阿德利企鹅为了养育后代，也会通过这种方式从其他雄企鹅那里交换筑巢用的卵石。下面这篇文章将为您介绍一下企鹅间的“性交易”。
 The Adelie penguin, a species that inhabits Ross
Island in Antarctica, ensures the survival of its species in a curious manner.
Though scientists claim that this species mates for life, an exception is
apparently made where nest building is concerned.
The female Adelie penguin, desperate to obtain the stones she uses to build
her nest, visits the nests of bachelor Adelies, goes through the entire
courtship routine, mates with him,
and waddles off with the prized pebbles she worked for.
The harsh, frigid Antarctic climate makes it necessary for the female Adelie
to use unconventional means to obtain the rocks she needs to build a nest for
her offspring. Trees and grasses cannot survive in this climate, and the stones
that the female penguin does find, are likely to be frozen solid in the ice or
in the mud.
So rare are the pebbles the penguin needs that she sometimes even risks her
neck by robbing another females' nest of the stones.
This explains why the date and mate method is the one female Adelie penguins
prefer. She follows the courtship ritual, which includes repeatedly dipping her
head and, if the unattached male expresses interest in her, she lies flat on her
back, as an invitation to mate. Once the two have mated, the female collects the
stones she came for as a sort of payment, and returns home to her mate for life!
Sometimes, especially cunning female Adelies engage in the courtship ritual,
minus the mating part, grab the rocks, and go home. According to Fiona M. Hunter
of the University of Cambridge, the males of this species do not bear a grudge,
and do not become aggressive when they get nothing for something. This
researcher even observed one bold and masterful female make off with 62 stones
from one single male in one hour, without engaging in anything but the
head-bobbing ritual.
courtship: 求爱
（英语点津 Annabel 编辑） |
