Lucy Cooke: Sloths! The strange life of the world's slowest mammal
לוסי קוק: עצלנאים! החיים המוזרים של היונק האיטי ביותר בעולם
In books, TV shows and even an annual sloth calendar, Lucy Cooke shares unexpected truths about animals. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
about my animal muse:
of the world's slowest mammal
של היונק האיטי ביותר בעולם
שראיתי אחד.
about an animal that's born
that speaks of sin
has no place amongst the fittest
that we've got this animal all wrong --
ממש טועים לגבי החיה הזו --
the truth about the sloth
we both call home.
שלו שניינו קוראים בית.
conquistador called Valdés,
in his encyclopedia of the New World.
באנציקלופדיה שלו של העולם החדש.
that can be found in the world ...
or one that is more useless."
או כה חסרת ערך".
about Valdés's drawing skills.
of a sloth that's more useless.
כה חסר תועלת של עצלנאי.
a remarkably humanlike face,
humanlike faces.
I think looks a lot like Ringo Starr.
בקוסטה ריקה, ממש דומה לרינגו סטאר.
resemblance to the The Beatles.
דמיון מאוד גדול לביטלס.
with Paul, actually, on there.
sloths are also extremely successful.
and there were once dozens of species
ופעם היו עשרות זנים
which was the size of a small elephant
שהיה בגודל של פיל קטן
to eat avocado pits whole
כדי לבלוע גלעיני אבוקדו שלמים
(Laughter)
(צחוק)
totally bereft at breakfast.
ללא ארוחת בוקר.
and they fall into two groups.
והם מחולקים לשתי קבוצות.
three-toed sloths,
and the Mona Lisa smiles.
וחיוך המונה ליזה,
between a Wookiee and a pig.
of Central and South America,
that was done in the 1970s
numerically abundant large animal.
הכי נפוץ מבחינה מספרית.
of the mammalian biomass.
של היונקים.
something very right indeed.
the sloth for being different,
על זה שהוא שונה,
in our quest for quick.
is choking us and the planet.
חונקת אותנו ואת כדור הארץ.
the "Ferrari of the animal kingdom,"
ה"פרארי של עולם החיות",
in three seconds flat.
בתוך שלוש שניות.
but at the expense of strength.
to tougher predators like hyenas.
לטורפים יותר קשוחים כמו הצבועים.
approach to dinner.
to be eaten any more than antelope do,
יותר מאשר האנטילופה רוצה,
and very hard to digest.
had to become an athlete --
is a four-chambered stomach
בטן בעלת ארבע קיבות
digestion rate of any mammal.
אצל יונקים.
to process a single leaf,
to process those toxins.
לעבד את הרעלים האלה.
very hard at work.
have little calorific value,
as little energy as possible.
שהם מוציאים כמה שפחות אנרגיה.
of a similar-sized mammal
של יונק אחר באותו הגודל
as 100 calories a day,
than any other mammal,
through 270 degrees
את הראש שלהם ב270 מעלות
with the effort of moving their body.
surprisingly good swimmers.
באופן מפתיע.
than they can move on land,
that don't do flatulence.
שאנחנו מכירים שלא מפיחים גזים.
into their bloodstream
as a sort of mouth fart.
saves further energy.
of a terrestrial mammal.
של יונק יבשתי.
of the extensor muscles
to pull themselves along.
שרירי מפשק שימשכו אותם.
and a high fatigue resistance,
ועמידות גבוהה לעייפות,
like a happy, hairy hammock
כמו ערסל שמח ושעיר
in this inverted position.
בתנוחה ההפוכה הזו.
are uniquely adapted
באופן ייחודי
against the force of gravity.
from crushing their lungs.
למעוך את הריאות שלהם.
the opposite direction,
after a tropical drenching.
אחרי סערה טרופית.
if you turn a sloth the other way up,
as if mountaineering on a flat surface.
הם מטפסי הרים על משטח שטוח.
the early explorers like Valdés
המגלים הראשונים, כמו ואלדז,
the wrong way up and out of context.
באופן הפוך ומחוץ להקשר.
mesmerized by moving sloths.
מהעצלנאים הנעים.
their strength or agility.
לא מנע מהם כוח או גמישות.
move like "Swan Lake" in slow mo --
"אגם הברבורים" בהילוך איטי --
which is not uncommon.
of digesting leaves avoid being eaten?
מצליח להימנע מלהפוך לטרף?
of the sloth's main predators.
of up to 50 miles per hour,
the slightest leaf rustle.
has poor hearing, bad eyesight,
וחוש ראיה גרוע,
is clearly not an option.
ברור שאינה אופציה בכלל.
an invisibility cloak
that attract moisture
gardens for algae,
a host of invertebrates.
miniature ecosystem.
איטית משלהם.
their movements are so slow,
of the monstrous harpy
scanning for action.
the safety of the canopy --
הביטחון של חופת העצים --
at the base of a tree.
has long been a mystery,
היוותה תעלומה במשך זמן רב,
as to why they do it.
למה הם עושים את זה.
scented messages for potential mates.
בחשאי עבור בני זוג פוטנציאליים.
silent, solitary creatures,
יצורים שותקים, עצמאיים,
and scream for sex.
will get the male's attention.
את תשומת הלב של הזכר.
of the kiskadee flycatcher.
at the top of her lungs.
will carry for miles across the canopy,
של קילומטרים במעבה היער
a slow path towards her.
will help send Romeo up the right tree
יסייעו לרומיאו למצוא את העץ הנכון
scaling the wrong one.
בטיפוס על העץ הלא נכון.
that sloths do swiftly.
שהעצלנאים עושים מהר.
with in a matter of seconds.
a constant warm body temperature.
על טמפרטורת גוף חמה וקבועה.
for the tropics to keep that heat in.
הטרופיים כדי לשמור על החום הזה.
one of the reasons
recover from injuries
from a double amputation,
that have managed to survive
may well be key to surviving extinction.
יכול להיות המפתח לכך שהם עוד לא נכחדו.
who were studying mollusks
predicted which species of mollusk
in one shape or another
בצורה כזו או אחרת
is their slothful nature.
Appreciation Society
their slow, steady, sustainable lives.
הקבועים וברי הקיימא.
a lot about slowing down.
leaf out of their book.
את העצלנאי הפנימי שלנו
that can be found in the world."
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lucy Cooke - Zoologist, author, explorerIn books, TV shows and even an annual sloth calendar, Lucy Cooke shares unexpected truths about animals.
Why you should listen
Lucy Cooke is a New York Times best-selling author, award-winning documentary producer, presenter and National Geographic explorer with a master's in zoology from Oxford University. She is a passionate conservationist and champion of animal species that are often misunderstood. Her style is immersive, journalistic and unashamedly populist, mixing expert storytelling with a dash of humor to reach the widest possible audience. She began her presenting career hosting Freaks and Creeps for National Geographic, a show about strange species that get overlooked in favor of charismatic megafauna, and has hosted numerous shows for the BBC.
Cooke has a particular soft spot for sloths and founded the Sloth Appreciation Society to promote a greater understanding of their lazy lifestyle. She has produced a number of iconic viral sloth videos, Meet the Sloths, an award-winning international series for Animal Planet, two best-selling books -- A Little Book of Sloth and Life in the Sloth Lane -- and an annual calendar featuring her sloth photographs.
Cooke's latest book, The Truth About Animals, was shortlisted for the prestigious Royal Society prize and the AAAS young adult science prize. Nature calls it a "deeply researched, sassily written history of the biggest misconceptions, mistakes and myths we've concocted about the animal kingdom, spread by figures from Aristotle to Walt Disney."
Lucy Cooke | Speaker | TED.com