MammalsMightHaveSleptThroughDinoDestroyer.docVIP

Mammals Might Have Slept Through Dino Destroyer 哺乳动物也许是因为睡觉躲过恐龙的猎杀 You’d think that the asteroid that hit Earth 66 million years ago with enough force to wipe out the dinosaurs would be tough to sleep through. But a new study suggests that the ability to engage in extended hibernation might be what saved ancestral mammals from extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. The hypothesis is in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B . [Barry G. Lovegrove, Kerileigh D. Lobban and Danielle L. Levesque, Mammal survival at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary: metabolic homeostasis in prolonged tropical hibernation in tenrecs] 你会认为6600万年前，小星星撞击地球产生的能量足够让恐龙灭亡。但是必威体育精装版一项研究表明：白垩纪白垩纪早第三纪It’s thought that global wildfires engulfed the planet for a year or more after the Chicxulub impact. That’s a long time to stay out of harm’s way. Small mammals most likely burrowed underground. 因为希克苏鲁伯陨石撞击的影响，全球磷火大概燃烧了一年或者更久。这是能够远离伤害的很长一段时间。小型的哺乳动物大都挖掘地洞来避免伤害。 But could they last that long without coming up for air? Yes—if they were hibernating. 但是不呼吸空气，它们能存活那么长时间吗？是的——如果它们冬眠的话就可以。 We know that bears can sleep through winter. But rabbit-sized Madagascar mammals called tenrecs have got that beat. Researchers tagged two dozen tenrecs with devices that recorded their body temp. And then released ‘em back in the wild. 我们知道熊可以冬眠度过严寒的冬季，但是像兔子大小的一种叫无尾猬的马达加斯加哺乳动物就是那样冬眠。研究者用小装置给24只无尾猬贴标签，记录人们的体温，然后再把它们放回到野外。 Most of the tenrecs got killed by dogs or snakes or poachers. But a couple tunneled into the sand where they proceeded to snooze until the researchers dug them up nine months later. 大多数的无尾猬都被野狗、蛇或者偷猎者杀死了。但是有一对钻进沙土里，然后打盹睡觉，直到9个月后研究者把它们挖出来。 The findings reveal that on occasion the best way to make it through a crisis is to just take a long nap. 这些发现揭示了度过危机最好的办法就是来一次长时间的睡眠。 —Karen Hopkin —卡恩·霍普金 Mammals Might Have Slept Through Dino Destroyer You’d think that the asteroid that hit Earth 66 million years ago with enough force to wipe out the dinosaurs would be tough to sleep through. But a new study suggests t