马达加斯加石林生态

Living on a Razor’s Edge
住在刀刃上

马达加斯加的那些石灰石塔是奇异物种的天堂。
Madagascar’s limestone towers are a haven for strange species.


大风车带你看精彩的世界




1：A city of limestone towers rises in western Madagascar.
一座石灰岩塔林城矗立在马达加斯加的西部。


2：Unexplored passages shelter some of the island's—and the world's—strangest species, from the ghostly Decken's sifaka, a lemur, to a host of reptiles, insects, and plants.
未探查过的通道里掩藏着岛上，也是世界上最奇异的物种，有幽灵似的Decken马达加斯加狐猴，这种狐猴是各种爬行类、昆虫和植物的主人。


3：Slot canyons and wet caves cut through the neighborhoods of limestone towers.
狭窄的缝隙和潮湿的岩洞切开了相邻的石灰岩塔。


4：Climbers Luke "Fumakilla" Padgett and John "Razor Sharp" Benson descend a wall of limestone in Tsingy de Bemaraha national park and reserve in western Madagascar. Sharp, steep, and brittle, the protected area's maze of sunbeaten rock has repelled all but a few explorers and scientists, leaving large parts of the region—and countless resident creatures—unknown to humans. "I've never climbed anywhere like this," Benson said. "If you fall, even a few feet, you get impaled."
登山者卢克·“福马克勒”·佩吉特和约翰·“莱哲·夏普”·本松从马达加斯加西部黥基.德.贝马拉哈自然保护区石灰岩陡墙上往下降。尖利、陡峭而又易碎的保护区里原生态岩石迷津，阻止了除少数探险家和科学家之外所有人远离这个地区的大部分区域以及无数本地生物，而不为世人所知。本松说：“我从来没有在哪里爬过这样的地方，如果你掉下去，即使是几英尺高，你也会被刺穿。”

5：Benson weaves through skin-ripping pinnacles. In Malagasy, the formations are called tsingy, meaning "where one cannot walk barefoot." The terrain resists intrusions from hunters, hungry cattle, and wildfires.
本松圩回通过锯齿似的小尖塔。在马达加斯加语里，这种地形被称为“黥基”，意思是“一个不能赤脚走的地方”。这种地形抵抗住了猎人、饥饿的家畜、以及野火的侵扰。

6：Sunlight rakes the heights of the tsingy, where any rainfall is quickly shed. The arid upper reaches favor mobile creatures such as dragonflies (here in a cooling posture).
阳光掠过黥基的顶点，这里任何雨点都会迅速流走。贫瘠的顶部却获得了象蜻蜓这样的机灵生物的青睐（这真是一种最酷的姿式）。

7：Spiny, drought-tolerant Pachypodium plants also thrive in the tsingy's top reaches.
多刺的、耐旱的棒棰树植物也在这种黥基的顶部区域旺盛生长。

8：Vertical pupils identify a seseke, or leaf-tailed gecko, as a nocturnal creature. Its camouflage works so well that the lizard doesn't hide during the day. It simply flattens itself against tree trunks while waiting for darkness and insects to eat.
小学生肯定把色色客和叶尾壁虎看成一样，以为是一种夜行动物。这种蜥蜴伪装得非常好，以致它在白天也不用隐藏。它使自己完全紧贴树干，等着天黑和吃昆虫。

9：Troops of Decken's sifakas, found only in western Madagascar, cruise the tops of the tsingy searching for food and evading predators. Like other lemurs, they probably live in small family groups.
一群仅发现于马达加斯加西部的德肯的狐猴，巡游在黥基的顶部寻找食物和躲避掠食者。象其它的狐猴一样，它们可能以小家庭群体生活。

10：Fearless acrobat, a Decken's sifaka leaps a chasm a hundred feet deep.
勇敢的杂技演员，一只德肯的狐猴飞过一道一百英尺深的裂缝。

11：Blurring through the void, the Decken's sifaka sails across the canyon. Among Madagascar's largest lemurs and one of the tsingy's signature species, sifakas regularly jump along the jagged skyline as they range between fruit trees.
这只德肯的狐猴跳过这条峡谷，尽管模糊了这空旷之地。在马达加斯加大量的狐猴即黥基的标志性物种之一中，狐猴有规律地沿着锯齿状的地平线跳跃，在果树之间漫游。

12：The leaping lemur comes to rest on a splinter of stone. Little is known about the behavior of Decken's sifakas, but evolution has equipped them with thick pads on hands and feet, helping them navigate their serrated home.
跳跃而行的狐猴在一片石尖上休息。有关德肯狐猴的习性知道的很少，但是进化让它们具有了厚厚的手掌和脚掌，使它们得以在锯齿状的家园里穿行。

13：The Milky Way sparkles above slit-topped canyons as a nocturnal gecko hunts for insects. Scientists who visit the tsingy often go on "night spots," hikes through the dark forest to look for unfamiliar creatures such as fist-size cockroaches. "In a way this area is very representative of the whole island of Madagascar," says herpetologist Hery Rakotondravony. "There are many kinds of environments here and many kinds of species. It's very rich. There's a lot to discover."
银河在裂缝顶部闪烁，夜行壁虎在捕食昆虫。调查黥基的科学家常常进行“夜间侦察”，步行穿过黑暗的森林来寻找象拳头大小的蟑螂一样的新奇物种。爬行学家海利·拉可登加维利说：“在某种程度上，这个地区是马达加斯加全岛非常有代表性的。这里有许多环境类型和许多物种，非常丰富。还有大量的东西等待去发现。”

14：An aerial view of tsingy formations reveals rows of tall limestone towers and deep, straight canyons—a landscape that resembles dense city blocks. The top of the tsingy is arid and bare, while the canyon bottoms, shielded from the desiccating sun, collect rain and soil. The city comparison isn't far off: Different animals live at different levels within the vertical habitat provided by the stone high-rises. Desert-adapted creatures command the heights while moisture-lovers prowl the damp shadows below.
一幅黥基地形的空中图片展示了一排排石灰岩塔和深深的、整齐的峡谷，景象就象密集的城市高楼群一样。黥基的顶部是干旱和赤裸的，而被遮蔽干燥的阳光的峡谷底部汇集雨水和土壤。与城市相比大不相同：随着岩石的升高而形成的垂直生态系统内，不同水平生活着不同的动物。适于荒凉的物种掌控着高处，而喜湿的物种在下面潮湿阴凉的地方潜行。

15：Often no wider than a hiker's shoulders, slot canyons swallow water in the rainy season, funneling much of it to underground chambers. The passages remain moist year-round, supporting dozens of species of invertebrates and amphibians.
通常还没有步行者的肩宽，狭窄的缝隙在雨季吸收雨水，把大部分雨水灌进了地下溶洞。这种通道常年不变地保持潮湿，支持着数十种无脊椎动物和两栖类动物。

16：Most local people who enter the tsingy seek the sweet prize of honey.
进入黥基的大多数当地人寻找甜美的蜂蜜。

17：Nightfall does nothing to soften the spiny ramparts, yet cooler temperatures and rising humidity entice many nocturnal creatures to emerge. Says biologist Steven Goodman, one of the few scientists to make repeat visits, "We've just touched the surface as far as finding out what lives there."
黄昏丝毫没有使刺状的壁垒变柔和，然而变冷的气温和上升的湿气诱使许多夜行动物浮现。生物学家史蒂文·戈登是几个多次造访这里的科学家之一，他说：“就找出那里生存的东西来说，我们仅仅触及了表面。”

18：A Decken's sifaka peers out from a jagged stone maw. The tsingy region is a lemur hot spot: Several species inhabit the canyon forests, including the brown lemur and endemic nocturnal lemurs—the tiny mouse lemur and John Cleese's woolly lemur.
一只德肯狐猴从一处锯齿状的石头无底洞窥视。黥基地区是一个狐猴的热点：有几种栖息在峡谷的森林里，包括棕色狐猴、地方性夜行狐猴（即小鼠狐猴与约翰克里斯羊毛狐猴。

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