Hsieh Tracy的譯世界

Animals at Play

動物也玩耍嗎？

For a long time, people believed that play is something limited to mammals like kittens, chimps, and us. However, more studies reveal that fish, reptiles, and even some invertebrates show playful behavior. Here are some stories and facts about animals playing:

一直以來，人們以為玩耍是哺乳類的專利，只有小貓、黑猩猩或我們人類會玩耍。然而，越來越多研究顯示魚類、爬蟲類，甚至是無脊椎動物都出現玩耍般的行為。接著來分享幾個動物玩耍的例子：

Pigface, a Nile soft-shelled turtle who spent nearly his entire life along at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. In the 1980s, when he was in his 40s, he began biting himself and clawing at his face. No one back then thought reptiles could get bored. But they gave him a basketball anyway- and they were amazed to see that he started to knock the ball around and chased it like a frolicking dog.

豬臉是一隻非洲鱉，大半輩子都獨自住在華盛頓特區的國家動物園裡。1980年代，四十歲的他開始咬自己、抓自己的臉。當時，沒有人相信爬蟲類也會感覺無聊，不過他們還是給了他一顆籃球。當他開始像嬉戲的狗般把球推來推去、追著球跑，人們都感到詫異。

「豬臉」玩球的影片：點這裡

A Canadian researcher learned that two of her octopus research subjects had repeatedly blown jet streams of water at floating empty pill bottles, shooting them across the surface of their tanks.

加拿大的學者發現她的研究對象，也就是兩隻章魚，會吐出水柱，將空藥瓶在魚缸的水面上推來推去。

章魚玩樂高的影片

Playful behaviors are even observed among spiders, which have no cortex at all. The male and immature female Anelosimus studiosus spiders engage in what researchers called “almost-sex”. In real sex, the male is likely to end up being eaten by the female, but in the play interactions, no male is ever killed.

玩耍行為甚至也出現在連中樞也沒有的蜘蛛身上。學名Anelosimus studiosus的蜘蛛中，雄性會與未成熟的雌性進行「近交配」。在真正的交配過程後，雄性極可能被雌性吃掉，但在這遊戲般的過程中，從未有雄性被殺死。

更多這種蜘蛛的介紹影片

In April 2013, some geckos were put on the unmanned spacecraft BION-M. In microgravity, it is less energetically costly for reptiles to play, so they started to play with the stuff around them.

2013年四月，一些壁虎被送上無人太空船BION-M。在失重狀態中，爬蟲類玩耍行為的能量耗損大幅降低，於是，這些壁虎開始與周遭的物品玩耍互動。

俄羅斯太空壁虎玩耍的影片：點這裡

For some, the stories clearly show that these animals engage in some form of play. But not everyone is convinced. For one, it is hard for researchers to formulate a solid working definition of what constitutes play. For mammals similar to humans, one can usually identify play behavior by simply looking for behaviors that are reminiscent of a child playing, or by equating the behavior to that seen in animals where play is obvious, such as puppies. But to observe animals so different from us, it is almost impossible to assign human emotions.

有些人認為，這些故事清楚證明動物們有某種形式的玩耍方式。但也有人抱持不同看法。第一，研究者很難清楚且具體地定義遊戲的構成要素。對與人類相似的哺乳類，我們可以尋找與孩童玩耍類似的行為，或是與玩耍行為明顯的動物做對照，例如說幼犬。但觀察與人類截然不同的動物時，就很難用人類情緒來定義了。

In addition, the function of play in animals remains enigmatic. They are certainly not doing it for their survival or procreation. So what for?

此外，玩耍的功能仍是個謎。動物們玩耍時顯然不是為了生存，也不是要繁衍後代，所以是為什麼？

A theory suggests that play may be “an outflow of their curiosity, cognitive ability and their wish to explore the environment.” Another says that the act of play benefits them: it exercises muscles, helps them explore their surroundings or provides them with experiences, like the spiders’ almost-sex.

有個理論是，玩耍行為或許展現了「滿溢的好奇心、認知能力，以及探索環境的渴望」。也有人推測，玩耍能帶來好處，幫助動物鍛鍊肌肉、探索周遭，或是累積經驗，就像蜘蛛的「近交配」。

Then comes the question of fun. We can easily tell from body language and facial expressions that a mammal is having a good time; however, non-mammalians play is a different story. Till today, it remains unclear that if they are capable of feeling “fun” at all.

接著要探討的問題是「樂趣」。我們可以輕易從肢體語言與臉部表情判斷哺乳類動物正感到愉快。然而，非哺乳類動物的玩耍並非如此。至今，我們仍無法判斷它們究竟有沒有感受「樂趣」的能力。