Tiny duckling has rare mutation: 4 legs
最近在英国出现了这样一只看上去颇为怪异的小鸭子，刚刚出生8天的它平日里也像自己家族的其它成员那样依靠前面两只有蹼的脚在地上跑来跑去，但问题在于，它的身体后半部分还长有两条几乎与前者同样大小的腿。
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.
据美联社2月18日报道，尼基·亚纳威是英国汉普郡新森林地区的一家名叫瓦拉维的养鸭场的主人，此人2月17日向记者们透露了有关这只小鸭子的消息。
Nicky Janaway, a duck farmer in New Forest, Hampshire, 95 miles southwest of London, showed the duckling to reporters Saturday.
亚纳威说：“它的样子看上去的确让人感到很不正常。我当时就想‘这家伙一定是多长了几条腿’，于是我就开始数啊数，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.
这只名叫斯汤皮的小鸭子可能并不具备在野外生存的能力，但按照亚纳威的说法，它目前的身体状况完全正常。亚纳威说：“这些天它活得很好，总是吃个不停，它在走路的时候习惯于让后面两条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.
尽管发生在鸭子身上的这种基因突变实属罕见，但类似情况此前在世界其他地区也有过报道。2002年出生在澳大利亚昆士兰州的一只名叫杰克的小鸭子身上同样长有4条腿，但不幸的是，它没过多久便离开了这个世界。
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.
|
