Name: 【動物】駱駝曾經是極地動物？！一起來了解神奇的駝峰！ (What's Inside A Camel Hump?)
Uploaded: 2019-12-18T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 4 min 32 s

Did you know that camels used to live in the Arctic tundra?

你知道駱駝曾經住在北極凍原嗎？

Yes, camels walking around on ice and snow.

沒錯，駱駝就是走在冰和雪上。

In 2013, scientists announced they'd discovered mummified leg bones on Ellesmere Island, which belonged to the ancestors of modern day one-and two-humped camels.

2013 年，科學家宣布他們在埃爾斯米爾島上，發現屬於現代單峰和雙峰駱駝祖先的乾化的腿骨頭。

In fact, enduring the frigid tundra is how scientists think camels got their iconic hump in the first place, because what's inside helped them survive in an age when many other animals were wiped out.

事實上，科學家認為當初正是為了忍受寒冷的凍原，駱駝才演變出牠們標示性的駝峰。因為裡面的物質幫助牠們撐過了大多數物種都滅絕的時代。

What's inside a camel's hump is fat, and a lot of people think it's water.

駱駝駝峰內的東西是脂肪，而很多人以為是水。

But it's certainly not; it's fat, and it nourishes them when they're on long journeys.

但絕對不是水；那是脂肪，並能夠在牠們進行長途跋涉時提供營養。

Each hump can store up to 36 kilograms of it, which can sustain the camel for weeks or even months without food.

一個駝峰可以儲存到 36 公斤的脂肪，足夠支撐牠們數週甚至數月不進食。

And that sort of adaptation was especially important 3.5 million years ago, during the middle of an ice age, when the ancestors to modern camels were hanging out in the arctic tundra.

而在 350 萬年前的冰河時代中期，現代駱駝的祖先的那種適應力於北極凍原活動時可謂極其重要。

Talking about the Ice Age, when a lot of mammals were killed during that time.

說到冰河時期，許多哺乳類動物在那個時候死掉了。

And yet the camel managed to survive by developing this emergency food system, if you like: the hump.

然而駱駝卻能夠發展出這種賴以生存的緊急食物系統，或是你們喜歡叫：駝峰。

Eventually, camels migrated across the Bering Strait into regions of Asia and Africa, where the fat inside their humps helped them adapt yet again.

最終，駱駝越過白令海峽遷徙至亞洲和非洲地區，而在那裡，駝峰內的脂肪又再一次幫助他們適應環境。

This time, to the blistering hot temperatures of deserts like the Gobi and Sahara.

這次是在極度高溫的沙漠，像是戈壁和撒哈拉。

You see, camels are one of the only animals in the world that store all their fat in one spot.

你知道，駱駝是全世界唯一一種將脂肪全部儲存在一個地方的動物。

And that's useful for keeping cool in a hot climate because heat can escape faster from the rest of their body, which helps them maintain a lower body temperature.

而這對在炎熱氣候中保持涼快是非常有用的，因為熱能可以從身體的其他地方較快散去，幫助牠們維持在一個較低的體溫。

Compare that to other mammals, like humans, who store fat all over, making it a lot harder to stay cool.

其他哺乳類動物像是人類與其相比，就把脂肪分散儲存在全身，會導致難以散熱。

Today, camels still use the fat in their humps as a food reserve, but they're not the only ones.

今日，駱駝仍以牠們駝峰中的脂肪作為儲備食物，不過不只有牠們。

In extreme circumstances, the Turkana tribe in Kenya, for example, will eat camel fat to survive.

在一些極端的環境裡，例如肯亞的 Turkana 部落，他們會食用駱駝的脂肪以生存。

They suffer a lot from periods of extreme drought, and I have seen these people.

他們遭受到無數嚴重乾旱之苦，而我見過這些人。

They've been very, very short on food, and this is difficult to believe, but it's true: slit open the top of a camel's hump, take out the fat for their own consumption, and then put the top of the hump back on again.

他們的食物非常、非常短缺，雖然難以置信，但這是真的：他們會切開駝峰的頂部，取出脂肪自己食用，然後再將駝峰頂部蓋回去。

But don't worry, the camel makes a full recovery, and instances are rare.

不過不用擔心，駱駝會完全康復，而且這種狀況非常少見。

But this practice has started to generate some buzz around camel fat as a new superfood.

不過這種作法開始引起了一些以駱駝脂肪作為新超級食品的話題。

Turns out, camel fat is loaded with fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals.

原來駱駝脂肪充滿了脂肪酸、維生素和礦物。

Desert Farms, a company that sells camel fat, says that just 1 tablespoon contains 40% of your daily vitamin B12 needs and three times the amount of oleic acid than coconut oil, a superfood staple.

Desert Farms，一間販賣駱駝脂肪的公司表示，光是一餐匙的脂肪就包含一個人一天所需百分之四十的 B12 維生素，並且是椰子油這種基本的超級食物中所含有的油酸的三倍。

And since all that nutritious fat is what fills the hump out, when a camel fasts for long periods, its hump can actually go limp.

而由於駝峰完全是由這些營養的脂肪組成的，當一隻駱駝長時間沒有進食後，牠的駝峰是有可能扁掉的。

If it's been in a very harsh environment, they go completely limp and flop over the side of the camel's backbone.

如果是在一個非常艱困的環境，駝峰會扁掉然後倒在駱駝脊椎的一邊。

Now, since we know that fat is what makes up the hump instead of water, that got us wondering: How do camels stay hydrated in such dry climates?

現在，由於我們知道駝峰是由脂肪而非水組成，這不禁讓我們好奇：駱駝如何在這樣乾燥的氣候中不缺水？

Well, they have unique blood cells that run throughout their entire body, including a few in the hump itself.

牠們有一種獨特的紅血球，會流經牠們整個身體，包含有一些會存在駝峰本身。

These blood cells are extremely elastic, perfect for holding a lot of water.

這些紅血球非常地有彈性，能絕佳地承載很多水分。

Camels can drink up to 115 liters in about 10 minutes, expanding the cells up to 240 percent in the process.

駱駝可以在 10 分鐘內喝入 115 公升的水，並在過程中使紅血球擴張至百分之 240。

There are capillaries throughout its body, and when it has a drink, it drinks and drinks and drinks, and it swells up, and it looks as though it's pregnant.

牠的身體裡佈滿微血管，當牠開始喝水，牠就會一直喝、一直喝，喝到肚子脹起來，看起來像懷孕一樣。

If that's not impressive enough, the wild camel of China has even been known to survive on salt water.

如果這還不夠讓你驚訝，中國的野生駱駝甚至被發現可以靠鹹水生存。

So, whether it's surviving the harsh desert heat, weeks without food and water, or even the Canadian Arctic, the camel is one of the best adapters in the animal kingdom.

所以不論是要在沙漠酷暑中生存，經歷數週沒有水和食物的日子，或是要在加拿大的北極區，駱駝都是動物界最強的適應者。

And that's in large part thanks to its iconic hump.

而這要大大地感謝牠標誌性的駝峰。

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【動物】駱駝曾經是極地動物？！一起來了解神奇的駝峰！ (What's Inside A Camel Hump?)

eventually

extremely

iconic

practice