正文翻譯
ENDANGERED CALIFORNIA BIRD TO BE REINTRODUCED TO SKIES FOR FIRST TIME IN NEARLY 100 YEARS.
近百年來首次將瀕危加州鳥類重新放歸天空。
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance announced Thursday that two female critically endangered California condors had successfully hatched eggs without the help of male condors.
聖地亞哥動物園野生動物聯盟週四宣佈，兩隻極度瀕危的雌性加州禿鷹在沒有雄性禿鷹幫助的情況下已經成功孵化了卵。
The discovery of parthenogenesis, or asexual reproduction, was a first for the species and was achieved through the use of molecular genetic testing, the organization said.
該組織說，單性生殖或者說無性生殖的發現，是該物種的首次發現，這個發現是透過分子遺傳測試實現的。
The event was detailed this week by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's conservation scientists in the American Genetic Association's Journal of Heredity.
聖地亞哥動物園野生動物聯盟的保護科學家們在本週於《美國基因協會遺傳雜誌》上面，詳細地介紹了這一事件。
The scientists explained that during a routine analysis of biological samples from the two condors in the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s managed breeding program, they confirmed that each condor chick was genetically related to the respective female condor that laid the egg from which it hatched.
這些科學家們解釋說，在聖地亞哥動物園野生動物聯盟管理的繁殖計劃中，對兩隻禿鷹的生物樣本進行常規分析時，他們確認每隻禿鷹雛鳥都與下蛋的雌性禿鷹有基因上的關聯。
Neither bird was found to be genetically related to a male condor – and researchers tested 467 male condors in the breeding pool as potential fathers – even though the two mother condors, or dams, had been continuously housed with fertile male partners.
研究人員在繁殖池中測試了467只可能是父親的雄性禿鷹發現，這兩隻禿鷹雛鳥都沒有與雄性禿鷹有遺傳關係 —— 儘管這兩隻母禿鷹一直在與有生育能力的雄性禿鷹住在一起。
The find, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said, was the first in any avian species where the female bird had access to a mate.
聖地亞哥動物園野生動物聯盟說，這個發現是所有鳥類中第一次發現雌鳥可以配偶的。
This is truly an amazing discovery," Oliver Ryder, the study's co-author director of conservation genetics at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, said in a statement. "We were not exactly looking for evidence of parthenogenesis, it just hit us in the face. We only confirmed it because of the normal genetic studies we do to prove parentage. Our results showed that both eggs possessed the expected male ZZ sex chromosomes, but all markers were only inherited from their dams, verifying our findings."
“這真是一個驚人的發現，”該研究的合著者、聖地亞哥動物園野生動物聯盟保護遺傳學主任Oliver Ryder（奧利弗·賴德）在一份宣告中說。“我們並不是在尋找單性生殖的證據，它只是打了我們一個耳光。我們之所以確認這一點，是因為我們做了正常的遺傳學研究來證明親子關係。我們的結果表明，這兩個卵子都擁有預期的雄性ZZ性染色體，但所有的標記都是從它們的母親身上遺傳的，證實了我們的發現。”
In addition to the California condor parthenotes, both dams had also produced numerous offspring via sexual reproduction with their mates. One had 11 chicks and another who was paired with a male for more than 20 years had 23 chicks and reproduced twice more following the parthenogenesis.
除了加州禿鷹單性生殖之外，這兩個雌性禿鷹還透過與配偶的有性繁殖生育了大量的後代。其中一隻繁育了11只雛鳥，另一隻與一隻雄性禿鷹配對超過20年的雌性禿鷹生意了23只雛鳥，在單性生殖後又生育了兩次。
原創翻譯：龍騰網 http://www.ltaaa.cn 轉載請註明出處
Parthenogenesis – also known as a "virgin birth" – is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which an embryo that is not fertilized by sperm continues to develop, containing solely the genetic materials of the mother. The offspring are called parthenotes.
單性生殖 —— 也被稱為“處女生殖”—— 是一種自然的無性生殖形式，在這種形式中，未經精子受精的胚胎繼續發育，只包含母親的遺傳物質。這些後代被稱為單性生殖。
The process is relatively rare in birds and instances were confined mainly to domestic birds and normally observed in females who have no access to males.
這個過程在鳥類中相對罕見，主要在於家養鳥類，通常在無法接觸雄性的雌性鳥類中觀察到。
California condors are a critically endangered species and the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said it was through the California Condor Recovery Program and genetics and genomics research that scientists were able to "cross-reference historical genetic records before confirming the outcome of this distinctive case of parthenogenesis."
聖地亞哥動物園野生動物聯盟表示，加州禿鷹是一種極度瀕危物種，正是透過加州禿鷹恢復計劃和遺傳和基因組學研究，科學家們交叉參考歷史基因記錄之後才能夠“確認這一獨特的單性生殖案例。”
Although one chick died in 2003 at the age of 2 and the other in 2017 at the age of 7, the researchers said they would continue future genotyping efforts in the hopes of identifying other parthenogenetic cases.
儘管一隻加州禿鷹雛鳥在2003年2歲時死亡，另一隻在2017年7歲時死亡，但研究人員表示，他們將繼續未來的基因分型工作，以期發現其他單性生殖的案例。
"These findings now raise questions about whether this might occur undetected in other species," Ryder said.
萊德說：“這些發現現在產生了這樣一個問題：這種情況是否會在其他物種中產生，卻未被發現。”
Breeding efforts to save California condors have produced more than 1,000 chicks and, following the reintroduction of some to the wild, the population has increased to more than 500 both in human care and free-flying in California, Arizona, Utah and Baja California.
為拯救加州禿鷹而進行的繁育努力工作已經培育出超過1000多隻雛鳥，在將一些雛鳥放歸野外後，加州、亞利桑那州、猶他州和下加利福尼亞州透過人類保護和自由飛行，禿鷹的數量已經增加了500多隻。
