首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Vibrations in the ground are a poorly understood but probably widespread means of communication between animals. It seems unli
Vibrations in the ground are a poorly understood but probably widespread means of communication between animals. It seems unli
admin
2011-02-11
62
问题
Vibrations in the ground are a poorly understood but probably widespread means of communication between animals.
It seems unlikely that these animals could have detected seismic "pre-shocks" that were missed by the sensitive vibration-detecting equipment that clutters the world’s earthquake laboratories. But it is possible. And the fact that many animal species behave strangely before other natural events such as storms, and that they have the ability to detect others of their species at distances which the familiar human senses could not manage, is well established. Such observations have led some to suggest that these animals have a kind of extra-sensory perception. What is more likely, though, is that they have an extra sense—a form of perception that people lack. The best guess is that they can feel and understand vibrations that are transmitted through the ground.
Almost all the research done into animal signaling has been on sight, hearing and smell, because these are senses that people possess. Humans have no sense organs designed specifically to detect terrestrial vibrations. But, according to researchers who have been meeting in Chicago at a symposium of the society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, this anthropocentric approach has meant that interactions via vibrations of the ground (a means of communication known as seismic signaling) have been almost entirely over-looked. These re- searchers believe that such signals are far more common than biologists had realized—and that they could explain a lot of otherwise inexplicable features of animal behavior.
Until recently, the only large mammal known to produce seismic signals was the elephant seal, a species whose notoriously aggressive bulls slug it out on beaches around the world for possession of harems of females. But Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell of Stanford University, who is one of the speakers at the symposium, suspects that a number of large terrestrial mammals, including rhinos, lions and elephants also use vibration as a means of communication. At any rate they produce loud noises that are transmitted through both the ground and the air—and that can travel farther in the first than in the second. Elephants, according to Dr O’Connell-Rodwell, can transmit signals through the ground this way for distances of as much as 50kin when they trumpet, make mock charges or stomp their feet.
A seismic sense could help to explain certain types of elephant behavior, One is an apparent ability to detect thunderstorms well beyond the range that the sound of a storm can carry. Another is the foot-lifting that many elephants display prior to the arrival of another herd. Rather than scanning the horizon with their ears, elephants tend to freeze their posture and raise and lower a single foot. This probably helps them to work out from which direction the vibrations are traveling—rather as a person might stick a finger first in one ear and then in the other to work out the direction that a sound is coming from.
In the past decade many insects, spiders, scorpions, amphibians, reptiles and rodents, as well as large mammals, have been shown to use vibrations for purposes as diverse as territorial defense, mate location and prey detection. Lions, for example, have vibration detectors in their paws and probably use them in the same way as scorpions use their vibration detectors—to locate meals.
Dr. Hill herself spent years trying to work out how prairie mole crickets, a highly territorial species of burrowing insect, manage to space themselves out underground. After many failed attempts to provoke a reaction by playing recordings of cricket song to them, she realized that they were actually more interested in her own footfalls than in the airborne music of their fellow crickets. This suggests that it is the seismic component of the song that the insects are picking up and using to distribute themselves.
Whether any of this really has implications for such things as earthquake prediction is, of course, highly speculative. But it is a salutary reminder that the limitations of human senses can cause even competent scientists to overlook obvious lines of enquiry. Absence of evidence, it should always be remembered, is not evidence of absence.
Which of the following is NOT true, according to the passage?
选项
A、Certain types of elephant behavior can be explained through a seismic sense.
B、Lions probably use the vibration detectors in their paws to locate meals.
C、Crickets may pick up and use seismic component of the song to distribute themselves.
D、Observations of animal seismic signaling have implications for earthquake prediction.
答案
D
解析
选项D与第8段第1句“这些结论是否可以确切说明类似地震预报之类的事件,仍未证实”这一信息点不符,故选D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/ghYO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
WhichofthefollowingisNOTtrueoftheU.S.A?
Writeanessayabout400wordsentitled"Backgroundmusic".Inthefirstpartofyourwritingyoushouldpresentyourthesis
Ifyouhaveeverdreamedofslippingintothecomfortingsoftnessofacashmeresweateryoushouldfollowtheexampleofthehab
ASystemofGuaranteedSubsistenceMinimumAhundredyearsagoitwasassumedandscientifically"proved"byeconomiststhat
AsoneofthedevelopedcountriesinAsia,JapanhasbeensoughthegemonyinAsiabecauseofitsstrongpowerineconomy.Howab
HumanitiesDisciplinesInmanypeople’seyes,thehumanitiesdisciplinesseemtobedyingout.However,actually,students
A、Atapublicforum.B、OnTV.C、Inanauditorium.D、Inaclassroom.B采访一开始,主持人就说:“Goodeveningandwelcometotonight’sprogram”
A、mandatorygrantsarepaidbylocaleducationauthoritiesB、mandatorygrantsareonlypaidtostudentswhoareattendingdesign
A、School.B、Cleanhouse.C、TheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency’sheadquarters.D、Noneoftheabove.D
WhencatastrophicfloodshitBangladesh,TNT’semergency-responseteamwasready.Thelogisticsgiant,withheadquartersinAmst
随机试题
影响心肌收缩性的主要超微结构是细胞膜。()
自然法学派是西方重要的法学流派,下列哪些选项是自然法学派的观点?()
下列选项属于重大基础设施项目的有()。
未经机械加工的中密度木纤维板(厚度为4毫米,密度为每立方厘米为0.4克)
组织结构中完成企业目标所需的各项业务工作,及其比例和关系的称为()。
Itisagoodhabitof________toreadafewlinesbeforegoingtobed.
小华平时食欲好,但最近几天却不想吃饭,尤其怕油腻,并伴有恶心、呕吐,小华可能是患了()。
1/2,3/4,7/8,15/16,(),63/64
一项全球范围的调查显示,近10年来:吸烟者的总数基本保持不变;每年只有10%的吸烟者改变自己的品牌,即放弃原有的品牌而改吸其他品牌;烟草制造商用在广告上的支出占其毛收入的10%。在Z烟草公司的年终董事会上,董事A认为,上述统计表明,烟草业在广告上
有如下数据定义语句:DimX,YAsInteger以上语句表明( )。
最新回复
(
0
)