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Songbirds sing to entice mates, and the timing of those songs is often regulated by sunlight. But that timing is getting ____1____—by streetlamps. That’s according to research published in the journal Current Biology.
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany studied five common forest-breeding songbirds. Males in four species started singing significantly earlier in the morning if they lived near streetlights than did their deep forest-dwelling kin. And for one species studied, males were more successful at attracting ____2____. Those are females other than the male’s primary nest-mate with whom they ____3____ offspring.
Sounds great, right? Well, the researchers say, not so fast. They note that the males may be weaker, because they get less sleep due to the lights. And so females who used to take early singing as a sign of ____4____ may be attracted to weaker males who simply can’t sleep because the lights are on. The early singing may also put the males at greater risk of ____5____.
The researchers say we don’t understand the long-term effects. But they add a hopeful note—companies are developing new streetlamps with reduced light pollution, which could also help songbirds get their z’s.
thrown off extra-pair mates sire virility predation
鳴鳥會通過唱歌吸引伴侶，而唱歌的時間是隨著陽光調整的。但是《當代生物學》雜志的研究表明，這種時間調配規(guī)律已經(jīng)被打破了——罪魁禍首就是路燈。 德國馬普鳥類學院的科學家研究了五種常見的林鳥。當它們“活在燈下”，而非像其他親戚一樣“深居林中”時，有四種雄鳥清晨唱歌的時間顯著提前了。所研究的鳥類中，有一種雄鳥更易成功吸引偶外伴侶。和雄鳥繁殖后代的不是原配偶，而是這些偶外伴侶。 這聽起來很棒，對吧？然而，研究人員認為不能那么快下定論。他們提道，由于燈光讓雄鳥睡眠少了，所以它們身體更加虛弱。認為提早唱歌代表強壯有力的雌鳥會誤被虛弱的雄鳥吸引——實際上這些雄鳥只是由于燈光失眠罷了。提早唱歌這種行為也增加了雄鳥被捕食的可能。 研究人員表示尚不明確這種現(xiàn)象的長遠影響。但他們又說了一個振奮人心的消息：同伴們正在研發(fā)一種新型路燈，這種路燈不僅能減少光污染，還能幫助這些鳥兒們睡個安穩(wěn)覺。