能在陸地上小跑的 鱷魚(yú)

Even on land, crocodiles are no fish out of water. While these reptiles might look lazy and slow sunning on the bank, they can easily pick up speed when necessary, and a scary number can gallop or bound like a horse or a dog.

即使是在陸地上，鱷魚(yú)也不是離了水的魚(yú)。雖然這些爬行動(dòng)物在河岸上曬太陽(yáng)時(shí)看起來(lái)可能很懶、行動(dòng)很遲緩，但必要時(shí)，它們可以輕易加速。很多鱷魚(yú)還可以像馬或狗一樣疾馳或彈跳。

Bounding is when an animal's forelimbs hit the ground at the same time, with the back legs pushing off soon after; meanwhile, a gallop is a four-beat sequence whereby the fore and hindlimbs take turns landing.

彈跳指的是動(dòng)物的兩條前肢同時(shí)觸地，后肢緊接著蹬起。而疾馳是四節(jié)拍的連續(xù)動(dòng)作，前肢和后肢輪流著地。

Freshwater crocodiles from Australia (Crocodylus johnstoni) were historically thought to be the only species capable of doing both. But that's not actually true. Not even close.

歷史上認(rèn)為澳洲淡水鱷(Crocodylus johnstoni)是唯一能做到這兩個(gè)動(dòng)作的物種。但那不是真的。一點(diǎn)都不對(duì)。

It turns out even scientists have underestimated these creatures. Past research suggested only a handful of croc species were able to gallop, but a new study now adds five more to the mix, suggesting it's a whole lot more common than we ever thought.

甚至連科學(xué)家都低估了這些物種。過(guò)去的研究表明，只有少數(shù)幾個(gè)鱷魚(yú)品種能夠疾馳，但是一項(xiàng)新的研究把五個(gè)新品種加了進(jìn)去。這表明疾馳比我們想象的更加常見(jiàn)。

Setting up video cameras around a zoological park in Florida, veterinary scientists analysed the gaits and speeds of 42 individuals from 15 species of crocodylia, which includes true crocodiles (family Crocodylidae), alligators and caimans.

獸醫(yī)科學(xué)家把錄像機(jī)架在佛羅里達(dá)的動(dòng)物園，分析了15個(gè)鱷目品種的42個(gè)個(gè)體的步態(tài)和速度，其中包括真的鱷魚(yú)(鱷科)、短吻鱷和凱門(mén)鱷。

While alligators and caimans were only able to trot on land, the team noticed eight species of crocodile capable of galloping or bounding.

雖然短吻鱷和凱門(mén)鱷只能在陸地上小跑，該團(tuán)隊(duì)注意到，8種鱷魚(yú)能夠疾馳或者彈跳。