Tiny duckling has rare mutation: 4 legs
最近在英國出現了這樣一只看上去頗為怪異的小鴨子,剛剛出生8天的它平日裡也像自己家族的其它成員那樣依靠前面兩只有蹼的腳在地上跑來跑去,但問題在於,它的身體後半部分還長有兩條幾乎與前者同樣大小的腿。
Webbed feet run in Stumpy's family, but he's the first to have four of them. A rare mutation has left the eight-day-old duckling with two nearly full-sized legs behind the two he runs on.
據美聯社2月18日報道,尼基·亞納威是英國漢普郡新森林地區的一家名叫瓦拉維的養鴨場的主人,此人2月17日向記者們透露了有關這只小鴨子的消息。
Nicky Janaway, a duck farmer in New Forest, Hampshire, 95 miles southwest of London, showed the duckling to reporters Saturday.
亞納威說:『它的樣子看上去的確讓人感到很不正常。我當時就想「這家伙一定是多長了幾條腿」,於是我就開始數啊數,一、二、三、四。』
"It was absolutely bizarre. I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting 'one, two, three, four,'" Janaway said.
這只名叫斯湯皮的小鴨子可能並不具備在野外生存的能力,但按照亞納威的說法,它目前的身體狀況完全正常。亞納威說:『這些天它活得很好,總是吃個不停,它在走路的時候習慣於讓後面兩條腿起到保持平衡的作用。』
Stumpy would probably not survive in the wild, but Janaway, who runs the Warrawee Duck Farm in New Forest, says he is doing well."He's eating and surviving so far, and he is running about with those extra legs acting like stabilizers," Janaway said.
盡管發生在鴨子身上的這種基因突變實屬罕見,但類似情況此前在世界其他地區也有過報道。2002年出生在澳大利亞昆士蘭州的一只名叫傑克的小鴨子身上同樣長有4條腿,但不幸的是,它沒過多久便離開了這個世界。
The mutation is rare, but cases have been recorded across the world. One duckling named Jake was born in Queensland, Australia, in 2002 with four legs but died soon after.
|