新概念雙語：萬萬沒想到：世上最肥的動物是它們

Fatness is not unique to us humans. There are plenty of supersized animals out there.

肥胖不僅人類的面臨的問題，許多動物也意外的受其困擾。

But determining which animal is the fattest isn’t as straightforward as it may appear.

但是準確說出哪一個動物是最胖，并不像表面上看著那么容易。

But if we look at things proportionally, you might be surprised by some of the world’s full-fat species.

但是僅僅看脂肪比例的話，你就會驚嘆這個世界上竟然還有體脂含量百分之百的動物。

We’ll begin with blubber, the fat rich tissue belonging to marine mammals that has myriad benefits for streamlining, buoyancy, defence, insulation and energy storage.

先來說一說海獸脂，海洋生物的脂肪組織統(tǒng)稱為海獸脂。它在塑造流線體型、漂浮、防御、保暖、儲存能量方面起到了巨大的作用。

Among the whales with the thickest blubber are the so-called right whales. They are popularly thought to have earned this common moniker during the bloody era of whale hunting in the 19th Century.

擁有最厚海獸脂的鯨魚稱之為所謂的“露脊鯨”——這個公認的綽號源于血腥的十九世紀，那時候鯨魚遭到人們的捕殺。

“They are slow and fat and when harpooned they float for easier retrieval. Most other whales sink。” says Dr Sam Ridgway, president of the National Marine Mammal Foundation.The whales float because they have a high percentage of lipids, or fat, in their blubber. There are three species of right whale, found in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern Oceans.

國家海洋哺乳動物基金會主席山姆博士說道：“‘露脊鯨’移動速度慢、身體肥碩龐大，被魚叉殺死后會飄起來更容易被搜尋到。而其他鯨魚則會沉下去。”露脊鯨之所以會漂在海面上是因為它們的體脂含量較高。露脊鯨一共有三種，分別生活在北大西洋，北太平洋，南部海域。

Walruses might look chubby, but measurements of adult females in Greenland found they were 18% blubber and 44% muscle.

海象也許看起來胖乎乎的，但在格陵蘭島測量的一只成年母海象身體里，18%是海獸脂，44%是肌肉。

Likewise, hippos are known for their dumpy appearance, but 18% of their impressive 1.5 tonne weight is actually skin. Beneath this 5cm thick hide hippos have a relatively thin layer of fat.

同樣的，重達1.5噸的河馬身體18%都是皮膚的重量。在這五厘米厚的皮下其實是一層相對較薄的脂肪層。

Their distinctive humps are not full of water but are actually nutritional stores of fat that can weigh up to 35kg. Overall though, camels are lean animals, with most of their body fat concentrated into their humps.

駱駝的兩個顯眼山峰重達35千克，里面不僅有滿滿的水，還是營養(yǎng)的儲藏站。駱駝把大部分脂肪集中在雙峰上，不過整體而言，駱駝還是很消瘦的。

Moths are known in the prairies of the western US where their mass emergence in spring can cause an agricultural nuisance. Around June they migrate to alpine climates where they feed on the nectar of wildflowers. The moths fatten up over the summer to an extraordinary extent,reaching a whopping 72% body fat by the autumn.

蛾子在美國西部的大草原上非常出名，在春天，他們會大舉遷移，嚴重影響農(nóng)業(yè)。在六月左右，他們會遷移到高山氣候的地區(qū)，在那里以花蜜為食。經(jīng)過一夏天的增肥，秋天的時候可以達到72%(巨額)的體脂率。