World's Smallest Wild DogFive and a half million square miles of sand. The size of China. The Sahara smothers six percent of the world's land. Yet this vast, unforgiving place is home to the world's smallest wild dog, the fennec fox. 550万平方英里的沙地。相当于中国的面积。撒哈拉沙漠覆盖了全球百分之六的土地。然而在这片广袤无垠的土地上，却生活着世界上最小的犬科动物——耳廓狐。Barely the size of a walking boot, this tiny fox goes head-to-head with the desert every day. The Sahara is filled with millions upon millions of grains of sand, and every grain acts as a radiator. Sand absorbs heat, and the hotter it gets, the more heat it radiates. The temperature here spirals to over 100 degrees.这只小狐狸只有一只步行靴那么大，每天都要与沙漠正面交锋。撒哈拉沙漠充满了数以百万计的沙粒，每一粒沙粒都是一个散热器。沙子吸收热量，温度越高，散发的热量就越多。这里的温度飙升到 100 度以上。In such sizzling conditions, the fennec's size matters. A small body can shed heat faster than a large one, and to lose heat even faster, the fennec's ears act like sophisticated air conditioning units. The network of veins cools the blood to lower the temperature. Despite such capable cooling, not even a fennec can endure the heat of the Saharan Sun.在这种炙热的环境下，耳廓狐的体型非常重要。体型小的比体型大的散热更快，为了更快地散热，耳廓就像一个精密的空调装置。静脉网络可以冷却血液，降低体温。尽管有如此强大的散热能力，但即使是非洲狐狸也无法忍受撒哈拉太阳的炙烤。There's no shade. But fennecs are masters of their environment. Moisture concentrates at the foot of the dunes, so the sand here is firm enough to dig a burrow. Home sweet home for a pair of fennecs. They have shelter from the worst of the heat, but they must eventually leave the safety of their den to find food. 没有阴凉处。但耳廓狐是环境的主人。水分集中在沙丘脚下，所以这里的沙子足够坚固，可以挖洞。对一对耳廓狐来说，这里就是甜蜜的家。它们可以躲避最炎热的天气，但它们最终必须离开安全的洞穴去寻找食物。And this enormous desert is a dangerous place for a tiny, wild dog. An unwary fennec is small enough to be caught by feral dogs and even eagle owls. But their camouflaged coats make them less conspicuous. 这片广袤的沙漠对一只小小的野犬来说是个危险的地方。一个不小心，耳廓狐会小到足以被野狗甚至雕鸮抓住。但它们伪装的皮毛使它们不那么显眼。In the fading light of dusk, she makes a run for it. Zig-zagging and jumping, she uses the dunes to mask her location. The grains of sand are constantly shifting, but the pads on her feet are furry for maximum traction. Few can keep tabs on her whereabouts.在暮色中，她跑了出去。她曲折地移动并跳跃着，利用沙丘来掩盖自己的位置。沙粒在不停地移动，但她毛茸茸的爪垫让她能获得最大的牵引力。很少有人能监视到她的行踪。词汇表Sahara 撒哈拉大沙漠smother 覆盖，掩盖unforgiving （环境等）恶劣的，不利的wild dog 野狗；野生犬科动物fennec fox 耳廓狐，沙漠狐狸walking boot 步行靴go head-to-head with 与…正面对抗grains of sand 沙粒radiator 散热器，冷却器spiral 盘旋上升（或下降），急剧增长sizzling 酷热的，热烈的shed heat 散发热量sophisticated 精密的，复杂的network of veins 静脉网shade 背阴处，阴凉处dune 沙丘burrow （动物挖掘居住的）洞穴，地道den （动物的）巢穴，窝unwary 粗心的，不警惕的feral 野生的，凶猛的eagle owls 雕鸮：一种大型猫头鹰camouflaged 伪装的，隐蔽起来的，有保护色的conspicuous 显眼的，醒目的Zig-zag 呈之字形移动，曲折行进pad（猫或狗的）肉趾，爪垫traction 牵引力，拉力keep tabs on 监视，密切注意whereabouts 下落，所在，去向
BBC Earth｜世界上最小的犬科动物：耳廓狐
